Prospera Financial Services Inc Buys 5,806 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 11.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,698 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after buying an additional 5,806 shares during the quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc's holdings in McDonald's were worth $17,884,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCD. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald's by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 1,422 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $433,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its position in McDonald's by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in McDonald's by 1.0% in 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC boosted its position in McDonald's by 2.8% in 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 buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, GDS Wealth Management boosted its position in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on McDonald's from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim cut McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush restated an "outperform" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald's Price Performance

MCD traded up $0.31 on Tuesday, reaching $291.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,011,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,495,303. The stock has a market cap of $208.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald's Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $300.06 and its 200 day moving average is $277.60.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. McDonald's's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 11.77 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This is a boost from McDonald's's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 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 $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. 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.