Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,225 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after buying an additional 3,279 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $6,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald's by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in McDonald's by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in McDonald's during the first quarter valued at approximately $348,206,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in McDonald's by 39.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,005,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in McDonald's in the second quarter worth approximately $110,321,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Price Performance

NYSE MCD traded up $0.90 on Tuesday, hitting $292.00. The company had a trading volume of 1,076,137 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,495,491. The company has a market capitalization of $209.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. The company's fifty day moving average price is $300.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $277.60. McDonald's Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from McDonald's's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. The trade was a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock valued at $10,698,289 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $319.46.

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.