Fiducient Advisors LLC Cuts Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Fiducient Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 15.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,120 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 396 shares during the quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nova Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the first quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 142.9% in the second quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 85 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE MCD opened at $309.00 on Monday. McDonald’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $276.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $302.96 and a 200-day moving average of $304.17. The stock has a market cap of $220.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Guggenheim upped their price target on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Mizuho raised McDonald’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $362.00 to $358.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $324.57.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 3,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.82, for a total transaction of $977,094.90. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,088 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,832.16. This trade represents a 34.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,160,270. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 34,463 shares of company stock valued at $10,549,351 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

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.