Choate Investment Advisors Purchases 5,010 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Choate Investment Advisors increased its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 21.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,978 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 5,010 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in McDonald’s were worth $8,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Diversified Enterprises LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 3,520 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,020,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 700,287 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $203,006,000 after acquiring an additional 61,604 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 11,824 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,428,000 after acquiring an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 13,952 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,045,000 after acquiring an additional 1,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montis Financial LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Montis Financial LLC now owns 1,325 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $384,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCD opened at $300.00 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $214.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $296.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.84.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

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.