West Tower Group LLC Takes Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

West Tower Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,000 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $58,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Guggenheim cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,428,777.88. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,498 shares of company stock worth $10,381,296 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $296.15 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $299.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.40. The firm has a market cap of $212.23 billion, a PE ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.