Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Decreases Stake in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 22.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,009 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 1,724 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,409,095 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $21,993,689,000 after buying an additional 239,753 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,917,993,000 after buying an additional 1,344,954 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,965,159 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,800,447,000 after buying an additional 97,966 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,142,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,606,354,000 after buying an additional 123,454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,556,485,000 after buying an additional 815,768 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $770,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,713,740. This trade represents a 22.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,402 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,407 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $325.86.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE:MCD opened at $300.72 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $276.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $214.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $306.17.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.97 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

McDonald’s Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.