Madison Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 35,220 McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 35,220 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $10,210,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. United Bank boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.5% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 6,446 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,963,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 233.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 1,552 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in McDonald’s by 10.9% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 25,203 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $7,675,000 after purchasing an additional 2,477 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 8.4% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 72,369 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $22,037,000 after purchasing an additional 5,638 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 15.0% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 563,777 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $168,552,000 after purchasing an additional 73,362 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $305.07 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $298.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.38. The firm has a market cap of $217.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

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.