Lazard Asset Management LLC Buys 50,833 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,749,348 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 50,833 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $511,105,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,331,031 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,840,787,000 after purchasing an additional 921,936 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,828,352 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $10,175,800,000 after buying an additional 272,139 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,828,420 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,901,595,000 after buying an additional 276,065 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,780,712,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,917,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,954 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Up 2.3%

MCD stock opened at $316.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $304.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $303.78. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $276.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.64 billion, a PE ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.52.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 280.89% and a net margin of 32.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.48%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 3,195 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.82, for a total value of $977,094.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 6,088 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,832.16. The trade was a 34.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 17,134 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $5,311,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,169,430. This trade represents a 39.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 40,030 shares of company stock valued at $12,240,570 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $325.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $324.57.

McDonald’s Company 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.