Cornerstone Advisors LLC Buys 600 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,000 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $9,135,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $290.89 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $300.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.84. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $208.46 billion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 58.65%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

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 value of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 5,939 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total transaction of $1,781,937.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 20,403 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,121,716.12. This represents a 22.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.