McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 190,967 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,839 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s makes up 0.9% of Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $48,666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,473,811,000 after purchasing an additional 599,745 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 987,099 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,664,521,000 after purchasing an additional 5,609,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,012,534 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total transaction of $371,893.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other McDonald’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,193 shares of company stock worth $1,403,593. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. TD Cowen downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $285.00 to $280.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.11.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD opened at $293.85 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $276.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $270.84. The stock has a market cap of $211.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.72. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. Research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.71%.

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.