Chesley Taft & Associates LLC Trims Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,986 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 2,421 shares during the period. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $8,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connectus Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 4,711 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,399,000 after purchasing an additional 1,374 shares in the last quarter. XML Financial LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 7,324 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,172,000 after acquiring an additional 237 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA raised its position in McDonald’s by 3,619.9% during the 4th quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 146,712 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $43,487,000 after purchasing an additional 142,768 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 128,366 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $38,062,000 after acquiring an additional 2,445 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Associates Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $233,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,557,060. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $285,740.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 13,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,557,060. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,751 shares of company stock worth $9,493,973. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Barclays cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $310.12.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock opened at $300.88 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $306.96. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $286.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.72. The company has a market capitalization of $216.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.54, a PEG ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.10%.

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.