McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Cutler Investment Counsel LLC

Cutler Investment Counsel LLC lowered its position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,082 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 1,962 shares during the period. McDonald's comprises approximately 2.2% of Cutler Investment Counsel LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Cutler Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $17,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 33 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GDS Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,504 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $762,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of McDonald's from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald's from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of McDonald's from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $319.46.

McDonald's Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:MCD traded down $5.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $292.63. 4,039,432 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,509,453. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $300.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.42. McDonald's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $209.70 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. McDonald's's revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from McDonald's's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald's news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 19.03 % 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 ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.