M&R Capital Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

M&R Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 29.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,545 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,086 shares during the quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $775,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the firm’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 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 approximately $13,193,080. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,193,080. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 31,751 shares of company stock valued at $9,493,973. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $288.00 to $278.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $309.15.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $303.82 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $306.96. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $284.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $271.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly 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). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. This is a boost 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 60.10%.

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.