McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,135 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. McDonald’s makes up approximately 1.6% of Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $6,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCD. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 53.7% during the 3rd quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 18,020 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,485,000 after acquiring an additional 6,294 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 4.8% in the third quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 1,771 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 37.0% during the 3rd quarter. FARMERS & MERCHANTS TRUST Co OF LONG BEACH now owns 2,561 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $780,000 after buying an additional 691 shares during the last quarter. Atwater Malick LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Atwater Malick LLC now owns 38,448 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $11,708,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Code Waechter LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $300,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. This trade represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. Citigroup upped their price target on McDonald’s from $334.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Baird R W cut McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.86.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $294.39 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $290.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.64. The stock has a market cap of $210.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.