Cynosure Group LLC Purchases New Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Cynosure Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 54,780 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $16,681,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the last quarter. Carlson Capital Management boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 5.2% in the third quarter. Carlson Capital Management now owns 827 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $361,000. J. Stern & Co. LLP acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $2,309,000. Finally, Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 62.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 2,250 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $296.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $299.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $278.95.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $1,781,937.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,121,716.12. This trade represents a 22.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,597 shares of company stock worth $10,702,754 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on MCD. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. KeyCorp raised their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Baird R W cut McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

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.