Hixon Zuercher LLC Sells 5,386 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Hixon Zuercher LLC reduced its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 39.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,140 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 5,386 shares during the quarter. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,479,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after buying an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in McDonald’s by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew 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 worth $1,216,677,000 after buying an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,005,264,000 after buying an additional 1,012,534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCD shares. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.5 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $297.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $213.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $298.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.23. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 178.99% and a net margin of 31.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.