Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Lowers Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE decreased its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 70,644 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,478 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $20,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCD. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $703,074,000. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in McDonald’s by 542.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after buying an additional 677,139 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 43,591.6% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $171,241,000 after buying an additional 589,359 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI raised its position in McDonald’s by 518.1% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 348,119 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $100,916,000 after buying an additional 291,802 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,405 shares of company stock valued at $9,886,656 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.39.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $305.07 on Monday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $217.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.53.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

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

About McDonald’s

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.