Avior Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,051 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 534 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $4,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,449,565 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $18,032,353,000 after acquiring an additional 262,147 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 106,340.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,235,890 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,069,234,000 after purchasing an additional 19,217,818 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after purchasing an additional 151,161 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $2,341,360,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 4.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,390,035 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,401,570,000 after purchasing an additional 237,532 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 5th. BTIG Research cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.72.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.3 %

MCD traded down $0.86 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $265.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,912,505 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,243,292. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $245.73 and a fifty-two week high of $302.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $191.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.71. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.75.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted 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. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.59 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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 transaction of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.18% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.