J. Stern & Co. LLP Buys Shares of 7,583 McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

J. Stern & Co. LLP purchased a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 7,583 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $2,309,000. McDonald’s comprises 0.2% of J. Stern & Co. LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,394,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at approximately $6,612,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 58.9% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $35,194,000 after acquiring an additional 51,210 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after purchasing an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.1 %

MCD traded down $0.33 on Tuesday, reaching $295.86. The stock had a trading volume of 136,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,490,136. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $299.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.40. The company has a market cap of $212.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 58.65%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,777.88. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This represents a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,498 shares of company stock valued at $10,381,296 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently 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.