McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Bought by Pallas Capital Advisors LLC

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,306 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,758 shares during the quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $5,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 162.5% during the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 84 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 95.7% in the fourth quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 92 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 735.7% in the third quarter. Painted Porch Advisors LLC now owns 117 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Davis Capital Management acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Saranac Partners Ltd purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting McDonald’s

Here are the key news stories impacting McDonald’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: KPop Demon Hunters promotion could drive significant near-term sales and traffic — some outlets estimate a large, rapid revenue boost from the campaign. How ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ meals could make McDonald’s $100M in just a few days
• Positive Sentiment: Company is leveraging pop-culture partnerships with two new adult Happy Meals and five menu items — a proven traffic driver for McDonald’s. McDonald’s unveils 2 new adult Happy Meals, 5 menu items
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors/strategists continue to prefer MCD for defensive, cash-generating exposure versus higher-growth names, supporting buy-side interest. Why this portfolio manager prefers McDonald’s stock over Nvidia
• Neutral Sentiment: Consensus analyst rating is “Hold” (mix of buy/hold/sell), indicating no broad upgrade momentum from the sell-side. McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical note: some analysts/market watchers flag MCD as oversold on short-term indicators, which can prompt bargain-hunting but also signals recent selling pressure. 4 Consumer Favorites Look Oversold Right Now: Disney, McDonald’s and More
• Negative Sentiment: Not all publicity is positive — at least one ad tied to the promotion drew fan criticism, which could temper engagement or spark short-term negative PR. KPop Demon Hunters McDonald’s ad isn’t for all the fans

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $360.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $355.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $339.69.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCD opened at $306.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $217.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $321.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $311.46. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $283.47 and a 1-year high of $341.75.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The fast-food giant reported $3.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.07. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.85% and a negative return on equity of 343.90%. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.83 EPS. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.26%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 2,626 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $328.34, for a total transaction of $862,220.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 8,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,867,393.22. This represents a 23.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 6,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.29, for a total value of $2,066,731.29. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 2,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $763,567.39. This represents a 73.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 71,657 shares of company stock worth $23,722,204 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a global quick-service restaurant company best known for its hamburgers, French fries and breakfast offerings. The company develops, operates and franchises a system of restaurants that sell a range of food and beverage items, including signature products such as the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, McCafé coffee beverages and a variety of salads, desserts and seasonal menu items. McDonald’s serves customers through company-operated restaurants and franchised locations, and it supports sales via dine-in, drive-thru, digital ordering platforms and third-party delivery partnerships.

Founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald as a single San Bernardino, California restaurant, the business was transformed into a franchising model after Ray Kroc joined in the mid-1950s and led the brand’s national and international expansion.