Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Sells 230 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,686 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 230 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $8,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCD. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective 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. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price target on McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Northcoast Research cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $326.13.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $311.70 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $312.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.34. The stock has a market cap of $222.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.