American Trust Acquires 115 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

American Trust increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.5% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,768 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,365,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,435.60. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,428,777.88. This represents a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.50.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $296.52 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.82. The stock has a market cap of $212.49 billion, a PE ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly 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. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.