Morse Asset Management Inc Grows Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Morse Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,385 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,031,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in McDonald’s by 542.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after buying an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the second quarter worth $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MCD. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. This represents a 44.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,099 shares of company stock worth $10,273,786 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of MCD opened at $294.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $211.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $299.72 and a 200-day moving average of $279.33.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted 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 net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s 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.