McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 8.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 49,974 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 4,334 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in McDonald’s were worth $15,218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 433.3% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 256 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE MCD opened at $292.52 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $300.06 and a 200-day moving average of $277.42. The company has a market cap of $209.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 58.65%.

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.