Strong Tower Advisory Services Boosts Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 30.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,819 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 1,600 shares during the quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,076,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $44,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 32.3% in the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $295.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.50.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $2,833,755.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at $13,193,080. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,193,080. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,740.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,681 shares in the company, valued at $3,557,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 31,751 shares of company stock worth $9,493,973. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $303.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 426,264 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,369,699. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $306.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $289.64 and a 200-day moving average of $272.42. The company has a market capitalization of $218.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.44%.

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.