Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC Purchases 49 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,293 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $395,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total value of $328,128.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. This represents a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $292.44 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $299.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.04. McDonald’s Co. has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $209.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Tigress Financial upped their target price on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Guggenheim lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.64.

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.