Benjamin Edwards Inc. Trims Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,320 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,471 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,357,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $306,000. Talbot Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 23,324 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $6,144,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,522 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 81,496 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $21,469,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,197 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $842,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $316.63.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD remained flat at $274.43 during trading on Thursday. 1,509,332 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,310,361. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $280.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.27. The firm has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.54% and a net margin of 33.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 56.71%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.