Waddell & Associates LLC Sells 90 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Waddell & Associates LLC decreased its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,081 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 90 shares during the period. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Quent Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 10.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 282 shares in the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 22.5% in the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 2,083 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $587,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,075 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 931 shares during the period. Finally, SVB Wealth LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 50,823 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,329,000 after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,498 shares of company stock valued at $10,381,296 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $290.30 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $299.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.06. The company has a market cap of $208.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. 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 58.65%.

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.