Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 35.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,867 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,550 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $873,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,612,000. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its holdings 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 valued at $35,194,000 after acquiring an additional 51,210 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. now owns 49,318 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $15,018,000 after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on MCD. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Baird R W lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.46.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $291.10 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $300.06 and a 200 day moving average of $277.60. The company has a market cap of $208.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.