McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Purchased by abrdn plc

abrdn plc increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 58.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,590 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,141 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $94,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.4% in 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 during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 106,340.3% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 19,217,818 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $2,423,773,000 after purchasing an additional 151,161 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,341,360,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,401,570,000 after purchasing an additional 237,532 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $271.99 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39. The company has a market capitalization of $196.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $283.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $280.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.46%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on MCD. UBS Group dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Bank of America raised their target price on McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.72.

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.