Stephens Inc. AR Reduces Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Stephens Inc. AR lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 97,927 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 821 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $28,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $1,394,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $1,628,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,471,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MCD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.86.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $294.39 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $290.70 and its 200 day moving average is $290.64. The stock has a market cap of $210.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.