McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its stake in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,819 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,253 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $20,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 1,997 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,417,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp boosted its position in McDonald’s by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 28,507 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $8,329,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 20,787 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $6,073,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 93.1% during the second quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 504 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99 shares in the company, valued at $30,690. This represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,402 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,407 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:MCD opened at $302.30 on Monday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $276.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $215.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.49. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $306.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.41.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 60.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.86.

McDonald’s Company 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.