Delta Financial Advisors LLC Trims Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Delta Financial Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,422 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. Delta Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,608,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,449,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $18,032,353,000 after purchasing an additional 262,147 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 106,340.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,235,890 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $5,069,234,000 after acquiring an additional 19,217,818 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.7% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after purchasing an additional 151,161 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $2,341,360,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 4.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,390,035 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,401,570,000 after purchasing an additional 237,532 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE MCD traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $270.15. 1,094,897 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,216,908. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $283.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.69. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $245.73 and a twelve month high of $302.39. The company has a market capitalization of $194.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. Argus reissued a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.72.

About McDonald’s

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.