Auxier Asset Management Boosts Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Auxier Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,634 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 333 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth $58,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at $59,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. This represents a 44.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,597 shares of company stock worth $10,702,754. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Robert W. Baird cut McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $295.08 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $299.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.78. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $211.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. 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. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.65%.

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.