Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,409 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,647,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 542.9% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $244,174,000 after purchasing an additional 677,139 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the second quarter worth $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the third quarter valued at $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in McDonald's by 8.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,216,677,000 after purchasing an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This represents a 19.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 5,939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.04, for a total value of $1,781,937.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 20,403 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,121,716.12. The trade was a 22.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 34,099 shares of company stock worth $10,273,786. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. KeyCorp raised their price target on McDonald's from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of McDonald's from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald's presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $320.50.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $296.60. 2,547,557 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,467,182. The company has a market capitalization of $212.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $299.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $280.82. McDonald's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company's revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Increases Dividend

The company 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 $1.77 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.