Partners in Financial Planning Makes New Investment in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Partners in Financial Planning purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,612 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $467,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $8,729,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Bell Bank grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,681,000 after buying an additional 371 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,888,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $2,471,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $306.95 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $301.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.20. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.95, a P/E/G 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, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. Sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 9,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This trade represents a 24.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,996 shares of company stock valued at $8,897,534 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.