Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Grows Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 20.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,388 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 398 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $728,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,998 shares of company stock valued at $9,935,493 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MCD shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Baird R W cut shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.22.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $301.35 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The firm has a market cap of $217.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50-day moving average of $296.97 and a 200 day moving average of $274.51.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.