Providence Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,244 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 248 shares during the quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $295.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $299.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.78. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $211.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.91, a PEG ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of McDonald’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 completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,550. The trade was a 44.68 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,597 shares of company stock worth $10,702,754 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $319.46.

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.