First National Trust Co Sells 1,068 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

First National Trust Co trimmed its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 64,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,068 shares during the period. First National Trust Co’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $19,750,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $6,612,000. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $35,194,000 after acquiring an additional 51,210 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 17.1% in the third quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 49,318 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $15,018,000 after purchasing an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,721.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE MCD opened at $301.53 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $299.08 and a 200-day moving average of $276.64. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $216.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.47, a PEG ratio of 3.98 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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.99% and a net margin of 31.79%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.77 dividend. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.65%.

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.