Beacon Financial Advisory LLC Sells 424 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,175 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 424 shares during the period. McDonald’s comprises about 0.7% of Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Quent Capital LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 14,771 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,165,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 7,707 shares during the period. Flossbach Von Storch AG lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Flossbach Von Storch AG now owns 201,132 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $56,709,000 after buying an additional 9,181 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,787 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,350,000 after buying an additional 1,865 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $297.19 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $298.60 and its 200 day moving average is $276.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.19 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.92 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 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 178.99%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend 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 2.38%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock valued at $10,698,289 in the last ninety days. 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.