Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 587 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management reduced its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 587 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Independent Wealth Network Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 863 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,374 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $407,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 5,331 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,581,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Unique Wealth LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $963,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Patron Partners LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 5,158 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,529,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $320.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 5th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $317.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $266.99. The stock had a trading volume of 3,159,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,309,868. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $278.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.90. The stock has a market cap of $192.50 billion, a PE ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.54% and a net margin of 33.36%. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.63 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors 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 2.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

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.