Norway Savings Bank Reduces Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Norway Savings Bank lessened its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,427 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 130 shares during the quarter. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $348,206,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 39.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,005,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012,534 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the second quarter worth approximately $110,321,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in McDonald’s by 56.2% during the first quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,123,132 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $308,878,000 after acquiring an additional 403,958 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MCD. Evercore ISI upped their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $288.00 to $278.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Argus raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $314.92.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,193,080. The trade was a 0.00 % 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. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’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 owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,193,080. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 31,751 shares of company stock valued at $9,493,973 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of MCD stock traded up $3.64 on Tuesday, reaching $313.48. 1,279,179 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,360,983. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $315.33. The company has a market capitalization of $225.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $291.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $272.69.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. McDonald’s’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.17 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders 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 is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.10%.

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.