Kovack Advisors Inc. Buys 2,567 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 36.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,608 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,567 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,729,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Bell Bank increased its stake in McDonald’s by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,394,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,628,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third 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 during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Trading Down 2.2 %

MCD opened at $304.02 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $293.36 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.72. The company has a market cap of $217.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, 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 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MCD. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $286,395.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,978 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,263,290. This trade represents a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,504 shares of company stock valued at $9,897,305 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.