Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $338.56 Million Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,167,888 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 12,651 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $338,559,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $703,074,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 43,591.6% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $171,241,000 after purchasing an additional 589,359 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 518.1% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 348,119 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $100,916,000 after purchasing an additional 291,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,996 shares of company stock valued at $8,897,534 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $312.74 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.44 billion, a PE ratio of 27.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.35.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.26%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

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.