Vertex Planning Partners LLC Has $742,000 Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,436 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 136 shares during the quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $58,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.5 %

MCD opened at $291.10 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.60. The stock has a market cap of $208.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued 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 net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. 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. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.