Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL Increases Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL lifted its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,313 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. McDonald’s comprises 4.0% of Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Birmingham Capital Management Co. Inc. AL’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $11,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $215,000. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,293 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $395,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Copley Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $684,000. Garde Capital Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 2,613 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $796,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Trust lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. American Trust now owns 7,768 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Argus upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.50.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.5 %

MCD stock traded up $1.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $298.08. 305,172 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,457,628. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $299.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $280.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $213.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. This is a positive change 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 is 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 5,939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $1,781,937.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 20,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,121,716.12. The trade was a 22.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,099 shares of company stock worth $10,273,786. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.