Aviance Capital Partners LLC Sells 1,610 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Aviance Capital Partners LLC trimmed its position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,158 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 1,610 shares during the period. Aviance Capital Partners LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $2,945,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $649,000. Marco Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Marco Investment Management LLC now owns 14,617 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,237,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. K2 Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $1,068,000. BBR Partners LLC increased its holdings in McDonald's by 40.4% in the fourth quarter. BBR Partners LLC now owns 7,000 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,029,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald's by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 4,876 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCD. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on McDonald's from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on McDonald's from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on McDonald's from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a report on Monday, February 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $323.61.

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Insider Activity at McDonald's

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald's Trading Up 3.6 %

NYSE MCD traded up $11.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $321.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,606,559 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,341,679. McDonald's Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $323.17. The company has a market capitalization of $229.71 billion, a PE ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $295.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $296.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. Research analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.16%.

McDonald's Company Profile

McDonald's Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.