McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Brown Advisory Inc.

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 139,341 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 8,486 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $40,394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCD. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 110.0% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $286,395.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,978 shares in the company, valued at $4,263,290. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $315.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $309.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.88. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $345.00 target price (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $325.48.

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.