Associated Banc Corp Reduces Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Associated Banc Corp trimmed its holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,499 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,403 shares during the quarter. Associated Banc Corp’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $32,430,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter worth about $1,394,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth $6,612,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 58.9% in the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $35,194,000 after acquiring an additional 51,210 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 6.5% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,978,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.7 %

McDonald’s stock traded up $4.94 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $295.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,200,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,488,078. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $299.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. The trade was a 44.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,498 shares of company stock valued at $10,381,296 in the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Argus raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Baird R W cut McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Thirteen equities 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

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.