McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.

Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 30.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,683 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 3,321 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia Trust Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 142.9% during 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 bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $322.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, October 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $320.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $324.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 13,134 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.42, for a total value of $3,945,716.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,383,734.52. The trade was a 74.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 17,134 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $5,311,540.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,169,430. This represents a 39.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 34,463 shares of company stock valued at $10,549,351. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE MCD opened at $312.43 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $276.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The stock has a market cap of $222.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.20.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

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

About McDonald’s

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.