Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 42 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,483 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in 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 valued at $4,592,892,000 after buying an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,682,473,000 after acquiring an additional 52,195 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.8 %

MCD opened at $306.95 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $219.31 billion, a PE ratio of 26.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a fifty day moving average of $301.52 and a 200-day moving average of $298.15. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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 note on Tuesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. This trade represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.