Howe & Rusling Inc. Grows Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Howe & Rusling Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 467.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,997 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 28,006 shares during the period. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $9,855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.39.

McDonald’s Trading Up 2.1 %

MCD opened at $313.39 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.89. The company has a market capitalization of $223.91 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, 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 the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. Equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.