Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc Takes $243,000 Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Armstrong Fleming & Moore Inc purchased a new stake in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 830 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth about $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of MCD opened at $294.44 on Thursday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $276.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $305.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.50.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 60.67%.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,690. This represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 6,402 shares of company stock valued at $1,973,407. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $324.73.

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.