Balboa Wealth Partners Cuts Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Balboa Wealth Partners lessened its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,670 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 763 shares during the quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in McDonald’s were worth $813,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after buying an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter valued at about $348,206,000. Capital World Investors increased its position in McDonald’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $110,321,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Truist Financial decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $298.56 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $299.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $277.14. The company has a market cap of $213.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.65%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This trade represents a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. Company 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.