Factory Mutual Insurance Co. Reduces Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Factory Mutual Insurance Co. lessened its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 136,200 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the quarter. Factory Mutual Insurance Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $41,474,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at about $6,612,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in McDonald’s by 58.9% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $35,194,000 after buying an additional 51,210 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new position in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $7,898,000. First Long Island Investors LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $15,231,000 after acquiring an additional 7,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 504.6% in the 1st quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 9,165 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,584,000 after acquiring an additional 7,649 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MCD. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of 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 upped their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Guggenheim raised their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $310.50.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,557,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,740.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,557,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,751 shares of company stock valued at $9,493,973 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD traded up $1.00 during trading on Friday, reaching $305.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,775,710 shares, 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 has a market cap of $218.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.56.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.44%.

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.