Heritage Investment Group Inc. Acquires New Shares in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Heritage Investment Group Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,651 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $503,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 433.3% in the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Guggenheim lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD traded down $5.93 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $292.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,039,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,509,453. The business has a 50 day moving average of $300.06 and a 200-day moving average of $277.42. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $209.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 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 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm 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 an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last 90 days. Company 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.