McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Kovack Advisors Inc.

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,994 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 930 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,324,961,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,917,993,000 after buying an additional 1,344,954 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,556,485,000 after buying an additional 815,768 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 732.6% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 650,544 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $203,211,000 after buying an additional 572,408 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 204.8% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 607,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $177,390,000 after buying an additional 407,982 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on MCD. TD Cowen upped their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Melius began coverage on McDonald’s in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on McDonald’s from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $323.43.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $302.25 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $306.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.63. The company has a market cap of $215.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s Corporation has a one year low of $276.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.97 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99 shares in the company, valued at $30,690. This trade represents a 90.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 4,487 shares of company stock worth $1,395,970 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.