West Family Investments Inc. Has $1.46 Million Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

West Family Investments Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,797 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,461,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCD. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $291.10 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $300.06 and its 200 day moving average is $277.60. 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 $208.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly 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. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.