Vista Investment Partners II LLC Invests $628,000 in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 2,166 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $628,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCD. Morton Community Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $1,077,000. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,574 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 175,861 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $50,981,000 after purchasing an additional 1,842 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 437,899 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $126,943,000 after purchasing an additional 95,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Schwarz Dygos Wheeler Investment Advisors LLC now owns 9,213 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,671,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $321.52 on Monday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $295.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.37. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $323.17. The company has a market capitalization of $229.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their target price on McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.