McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock Position Cut by Leavell Investment Management Inc.

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,297 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 184 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $11,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,472,000. VitalStone Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 148.8% during the 3rd quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 311 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 27,040 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $8,234,000 after purchasing an additional 10,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 329,417 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $100,311,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $310.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $291.56. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. On average, analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Company 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.