Woodward Diversified Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Woodward Diversified Capital LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 72.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,738 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,148 shares during the quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $325.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,780,165.67. This represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,690. This trade 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 worth $2,273,407 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $300.81 on Thursday. McDonald’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $276.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The firm has a market cap of $214.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $306.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.21.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

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.