Atom Investors LP Buys New Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Atom Investors LP bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,081 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $938,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.64.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.7 %

MCD opened at $294.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $299.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $279.33. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $211.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 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 issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. 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 payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

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.