Arlington Trust Co LLC Increases Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Arlington Trust Co LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 27.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,514 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 326 shares during the quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. KeyCorp cut their target price on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $294.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $290.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.40%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.