Willner & Heller LLC Purchases 60 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Willner & Heller LLC raised its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,692 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Willner & Heller LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $515,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. Accent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 32.3% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.50.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCD traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $305.04. 1,775,710 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,376,543. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $306.96. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $290.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.56. The company has a market capitalization of $218.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $285,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 31,751 shares of company stock valued at $9,493,973. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About McDonald’s

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.