Altman Advisors Inc. Makes New $1.72 Million Investment in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Altman Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,656 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,722,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 188,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $1,216,677,000 after purchasing an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,534 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after buying an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock valued at $10,698,289 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD stock opened at $289.20 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $300.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.75. The company has a market capitalization of $207.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.