McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 47.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,241 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 2,013 shares during the period. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atwater Malick LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 39,298 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $11,482,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 40.2% in the 2nd quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 4,573 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,312 shares in the last quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Verus Financial Partners Inc. now owns 1,040 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 29,970 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,756,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Exchange Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,245 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,285,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $300.09 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $214.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $276.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $306.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $306.19.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 60.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $373.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $325.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,283 shares in the company, valued at $2,780,165.67. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. This trade represents a 90.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,402 shares of company stock worth $2,273,407 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

About McDonald’s

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.