Sonata Capital Group Inc. Decreases Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sonata Capital Group Inc. reduced its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,753 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 134 shares during the quarter. Sonata Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $244,174,000 after buying an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 3,580.1% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $81,807,000 after buying an additional 261,350 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 26,948.9% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 227,752 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $66,023,000 after buying an additional 226,910 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MCD. Truist Financial dropped their target price on McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $310.16 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The firm has a market cap of $222.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.56.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.