Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Makes New $1.89 Million Investment in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 6,502 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,885,000. McDonald’s accounts for 1.7% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 329,417 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $100,311,000 after buying an additional 4,480 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,865 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 12,490 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,803,000 after acquiring an additional 426 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,906 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,382 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on MCD shares. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $309.99 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.08. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

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

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.