McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Bought by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 81.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,457 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,518 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises approximately 2.0% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $9,989,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 2,513 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 2.6% during the third quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 2,023 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $616,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $1,472,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 3.9% during the third quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 8,838 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,692,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, VitalStone Financial LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 148.8% during the third quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 311 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $308.22 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $290.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $291.16. The company has a market capitalization of $220.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 4.08 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, research 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 declared 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 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.13.

About McDonald’s

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.