Certified Advisory Corp Purchases 258 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Certified Advisory Corp increased its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,493 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the quarter. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the second quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Baird R W downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird downgraded McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $290.28 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $299.85 and its 200-day moving average is $278.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.49, a PEG ratio of 3.84 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. 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. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total value of $328,128.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,498 shares of company stock valued at $10,381,296. 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.