Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,571 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MCD. Quent Capital LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $848,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 13.3% in the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,645 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,156,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.9% in the first quarter. Wintrust Investments LLC now owns 6,621 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,867,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 35,027 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $9,876,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 93.8% in the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 34,077 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $9,608,000 after buying an additional 16,497 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Argus upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.46.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $298.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $299.79 and its 200-day moving average is $277.14. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $213.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.21, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.65%.

About McDonald’s

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.