Belmont Capital LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Belmont Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 79.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,637 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 6,155 shares during the quarter. Belmont Capital LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its holdings in McDonald's by 2.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its holdings 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 worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GDS Wealth Management raised its holdings 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 worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This trade represents a 48.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded shares of McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded down $0.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $290.68. 2,352,483 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,501,425. McDonald's Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $208.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.52, a PEG ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.75.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The business's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.44%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

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.