Athena Investment Management Decreases Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Athena Investment Management reduced its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,180 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 73 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position 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 worth $244,174,000 after purchasing an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 43,591.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 590,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $171,241,000 after purchasing an additional 589,359 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3,580.1% during 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 purchasing an additional 261,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 worth $66,023,000 after buying an additional 226,910 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $308.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $294.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.09. The company has a market cap of $220.84 billion, a PE ratio of 27.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, 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 sold a total of 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Company 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.