Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 9,532 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Independent Advisor Alliance lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 11.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 74,881 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 9,532 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s makes up 0.8% of Independent Advisor Alliance’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $22,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during 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 buying an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $348,206,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter worth approximately $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the 2nd 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. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MCD shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.6 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $290.28 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $299.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued 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 negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 5,939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $1,781,937.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,121,716.12. This trade represents a 22.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,498 shares of company stock worth $10,381,296. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.