Diamant Asset Management Inc. Has $2.91 Million Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Diamant Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,544 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 180 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s comprises approximately 1.8% of Diamant Asset Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Diamant Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 2.4% during the third quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 2.0% in the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% in the third quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 2.8% in the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GDS Wealth Management raised its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,504 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,099 shares of company stock worth $10,273,786 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on MCD. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird downgraded McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.50.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE MCD opened at $296.00 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $280.60. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $212.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.99, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.39%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.