Altfest L J & Co. Inc. Has $402,000 Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Altfest L J & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,356 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 54 shares during the quarter. Altfest L J & Co. Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC now owns 17,194 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $5,098,000 after buying an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 5,419 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Safir Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $212,000. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 8,440 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,503,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spring Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 17,529 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $5,198,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on MCD shares. BTIG Research downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Barclays reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.60.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $281.95 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $290.64 and a 200-day moving average of $280.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.72. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About McDonald’s

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.