McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Bought by West Paces Advisors Inc.

West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,851 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 863 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,374 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,737 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $985,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Patron Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group cut their target price 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. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.72.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD traded down $0.80 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $265.43. 2,792,986 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,243,191. The company has a market cap of $191.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.75. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $245.73 and a one year high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.35 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 57.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

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.