McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Nixon Peabody Trust Co.

Nixon Peabody Trust Co. cut its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,318 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 108 shares during the period. Nixon Peabody Trust Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,010,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,395 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $5,297,000 after buying an additional 1,056 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $96,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,947 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,510,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 6.8% during the third quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $596,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 9,368 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,853,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded 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. Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded up $1.98 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $294.61. 308,493 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,495,115. The firm has a market cap of $211.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.48. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.65%.

McDonald’s Company 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.