First City Capital Management Inc. Acquires 491 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

First City Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,655 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 18.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 21,225 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $6,463,000 after acquiring an additional 3,279 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.5% during the third quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 4,614 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. BIP Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 10.9% during the third quarter. BIP Wealth LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $355,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in McDonald’s by 11.0% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 58,698 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $17,884,000 after buying an additional 5,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $833,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The trade was a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock valued at $10,698,289. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $291.10 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $208.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.60.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict 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 $1.77 dividend. This is a positive change 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 2.43%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Company 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.