WASHINGTON TRUST Co Sells 234 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co reduced its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 38,027 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 234 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $11,024,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $396,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,504 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $546,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $663,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc increased its stake in McDonald’s by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 2,887 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $879,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,906 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,382. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $308.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $221.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $291.78 and its 200 day moving average is $292.20.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

McDonald’s 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.