Strong Tower Advisory Services Raises Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Strong Tower Advisory Services increased its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 5.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,547 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,497,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at about $1,324,961,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in McDonald’s by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,917,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,954 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 19.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,556,485,000 after purchasing an additional 815,768 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 732.6% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 650,544 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $203,211,000 after buying an additional 572,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 204.8% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 607,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $177,390,000 after buying an additional 407,982 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $297.07 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $211.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $306.31 and its 200 day moving average is $305.79.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $770,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,713,740. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. The trade was a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,402 shares of company stock valued at $1,973,407. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCD. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $373.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.18.

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.