Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 486,879 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,259,851 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 486,879 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.45% of McDonald's worth $1,010,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the third quarter valued at $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE MCD traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $296.60. 2,486,752 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,466,930. The business's fifty day moving average price is $299.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.82. The company has a market cap of $212.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73. 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 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. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. Equities analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is an increase 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 yield of 2.39%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. The trade was a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on McDonald's from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of McDonald's from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of McDonald's from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on McDonald's from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $320.50.

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.