Mather Group LLC. Sells 2,381 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Mather Group LLC. trimmed its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,426 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 2,381 shares during the quarter. Mather Group LLC.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $17,182,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% in the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,664,521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth about $348,206,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,005,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,178,474,000 after acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $300.88 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $286.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $271.72. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $306.96. The stock has a market cap 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,193,080. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at $13,193,080. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 31,751 shares of company stock valued at $9,493,973. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $310.12.

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.