Avestar Capital LLC Purchases 531 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,461 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 531 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after acquiring an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $841,966,000 after purchasing an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $307.47 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $291.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $292.08.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued 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%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Baird R W downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.61.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.