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

Franklin Resources Inc. reduced its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,259,851 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 486,879 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,010,032,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $31,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth $38,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $58,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total value of $328,128.43. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at $3,428,777.88. This trade represents a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,099 shares of company stock worth $10,273,786 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp raised their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.50.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MCD opened at $296.52 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $212.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $299.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.82.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.19 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s payout ratio 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.