Verus Capital Partners LLC Decreases Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Verus Capital Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,314 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,004 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $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. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Marshall Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Citigroup raised their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $309.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.82. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The firm has a market cap of $222.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.21, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 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%. Research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,504 shares of company stock worth $9,897,305. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.