McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Diversified Portfolios Inc.

Diversified Portfolios Inc. lessened its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 13.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,009 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 487 shares during the quarter. Diversified Portfolios Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $916,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 433.3% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Thursday, reaching $297.90. The stock had a trading volume of 584,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,500,609. The company has a market capitalization of $213.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $299.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.14. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 175.42%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’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 approximately $459,435.60. This 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 the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,435.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MCD. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

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.