McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock Position Lifted by Avestar Capital LLC

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 19.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,930 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 635 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth about $348,206,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at about $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $296.07 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $299.84 and its 200-day moving average is $278.40. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a PEG ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.65%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,498 shares of company stock worth $10,381,296 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Argus upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Company 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.