Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Purchases New Shares in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 14,450 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $3,682,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,473,811,000 after acquiring an additional 599,745 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,178,474,000 after acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the period. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% in the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,740.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,557,060. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,793 shares of company stock worth $1,260,106. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $0.69 during trading on Friday, reaching $288.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,528,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,519,216. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $302.39. The company has a market capitalization of $207.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.49, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $265.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $271.00.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.92%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $285.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $303.71.

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.