Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Sells 122 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. cut its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,525 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in McDonald’s by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 8.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,015,441 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $613,722,000 after purchasing an additional 22,780 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Tigress Financial raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Baird R W cut shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.0 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $296.31 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $212.34 billion, a PE ratio of 26.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $299.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.55.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,721.60. This represents a 48.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,597 shares of company stock worth $10,702,754. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.