First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Increases Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,939 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $5,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.4% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.0% in the third quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,057,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.8% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 4,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s 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 transaction of $441,470.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total value of $321,325.62. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,036,366.30. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 $459,435.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $298.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $299.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.64. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The firm has a market cap of $214.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released 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. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 178.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued 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 2.37%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 58.65%.

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.