McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by First Long Island Investors LLC

First Long Island Investors LLC lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 53,059 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 532 shares during the quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $16,157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MCD. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in McDonald’s by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after purchasing an additional 188,888 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after buying an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after buying an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MCD traded down $3.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $295.32. 815,449 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,494,947. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $300.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.29. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect 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. 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 dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Baird R W downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total transaction of $321,325.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,036,366.30. This trade represents a 9.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock valued at $10,698,289 over the last quarter. 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.