Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Raises Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. lifted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 14.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 13,906 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,721 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $4,235,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second 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 during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd 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. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,015,441 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $613,722,000 after purchasing an additional 22,780 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $290.89 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $300.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,435.60. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 35,596 shares of company stock valued at $10,698,289 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company 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.