Continuum Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Continuum Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 863 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Continuum Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Retirement Group LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. 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 research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, HSBC started coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $317.00 price target on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.72.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE MCD traded up $4.52 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $269.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,244,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,244,927. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.76. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $245.73 and a 52-week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.35 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s 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.