Eastern Bank Has $31.18 Million Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Eastern Bank grew its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1,874.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 102,392 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,205 shares during the period. Eastern Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $31,179,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.4% in the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.0% in the third quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 4,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 9258 Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.3% in the first quarter. 9258 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $799,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MCD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.52.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $315.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 694,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,339,067. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $295.53 and its 200-day moving average is $274.01. The firm has a market cap of $227.17 billion, a PE ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.17 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.10%.

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.