Ledyard National Bank Boosts Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Ledyard National Bank increased its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,616 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,406,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Roof Eidam Maycock Peralta LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter worth about $211,000. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $127,000. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 15.7% during the third quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,071 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,153,000 after purchasing an additional 958 shares in the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.4% in the third quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,969 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,863,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Finally, Stewardship Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $239,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.59.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $314.89 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.73, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $295.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.01. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 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 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.10%.

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.