West Tower Group LLC Invests $305,000 in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,000 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $305,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in McDonald’s by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after purchasing an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after purchasing an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 1.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 2,015,441 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $613,722,000 after purchasing an additional 22,780 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $296.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a P/E/G ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $299.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $278.40.

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, 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 58.65%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,777.88. The trade was a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,498 shares of company stock worth $10,381,296. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.