Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Purchases 1,007 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 6.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,522 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,007 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s accounts for about 1.1% of Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $4,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 32.3% in the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $69,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 34,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,221,233. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MCD. Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.59.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD stock traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $315.14. 1,109,080 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,345,715. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $294.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.69. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.25%. 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. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.10%.

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.