Lane & Associates LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Lane & Associates LLC decreased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 9.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 924 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 99 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at $348,206,000. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,498 shares of company stock valued at $10,381,296 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCD opened at $290.28 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $278.13.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. 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 disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.46.

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.