Virtu Financial LLC Makes New $1.65 Million Investment in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,409 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at $6,612,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after purchasing an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 58.9% during the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $35,194,000 after purchasing an additional 51,210 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.50.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $296.52 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $299.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $280.71. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released 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. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares in the company, valued at $900,550. This represents a 44.68 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s 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.