Carlson Capital Management Increases Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Carlson Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 827 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Carlson Capital Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth $1,394,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $6,612,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $35,194,000 after purchasing an additional 51,210 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,498 shares of company stock worth $10,381,296. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $1.33 on Tuesday, hitting $294.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 287,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,491,165. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.84 and a 200-day moving average of $278.40. The company has a market capitalization of $211.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 58.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on MCD. Truist Financial cut their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.