McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 14.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,150 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 903 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,452,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,473,811,000 after acquiring an additional 599,745 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in McDonald’s by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,178,474,000 after acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the period. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,425,674 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,589,073,000 after acquiring an additional 35,639 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Citigroup cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $302.00 to $288.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $315.14.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of MCD traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $254.84. 8,958,712 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,556,529. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $245.73 and a 12-month high of $302.39. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.19. The company has a market cap of $183.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.74% and a net margin of 33.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.63 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 56.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total value of $220,016.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,225.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $285,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,842,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,095 shares of company stock valued at $1,100,625. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.