McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Acquired by Nicolet Advisory Services LLC

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 7,724 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,180,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 12.3% during the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 8,355 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,592,000 after buying an additional 915 shares in the last quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 3,167 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $918,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares during the period. RFG Bristol Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $290,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 18,022 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,224,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,607,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $311.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.56.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,461,400 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.