McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Purchased by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 138,769 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,203 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $32,047,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.6% during the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 5,590 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.9% during the 1st quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 1,267 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 5,303 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID raised its position in McDonald’s by 11.0% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 372 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 1,532 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $476,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MCD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $260.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. HC Wainwright set a $250.00 price objective on McDonald’s in a report on Friday, September 25th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $282.00 to $270.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on McDonald’s from $385.00 to $390.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.94.

Key McDonald’s News

Here are the key news stories impacting McDonald’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts view McDonald’s compressed valuation, strong franchise-driven margins and cash generation as an opportunity. One recent analysis upgraded the shares, arguing that same-store sales may be an overstated measure of the company’s underlying quality. McDonald’s: Same-Store Sales Are An Overrated Metric
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s higher dividend and appointment of a new U.S. president signal continued confidence in shareholder returns and an effort to address softer domestic traffic. What Is McDonald’s Signaling With Its Faster Dividend And New US Chief?
• Positive Sentiment: The planned $8.5 billion modernization program could improve restaurant experience, speed and franchise economics over time, potentially supporting longer-term sales growth. McDonald’s Wants Its Franchisees to Modernize
• Neutral Sentiment: McDonald’s was included in coverage of consumer-stock opportunities and appeared to benefit from broader restaurant-sector interest, including takeover speculation involving Chipotle; however, that speculation does not directly improve MCD’s fundamentals. Restaurant Stocks and Takeover Talk
• Negative Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein cut its price target from $295 to $250 and maintained a “market perform” rating, highlighting limited near-term upside and uncertainty over the growth trajectory.
• Negative Sentiment: A proposed antitrust class action alleges McDonald’s AI-assisted pricing tool enables franchisees to share nonpublic data and coordinate menu prices. McDonald’s denies the allegations and says the system only recommends prices and cannot set them directly. McDonald’s sued over alleged AI-powered menu price-fixing
• Negative Sentiment: Franchisees are reportedly resisting remodel costs of at least $800,000 per restaurant, raising concerns about execution, franchisee profitability and potential pressure on future investment. Meanwhile, discount campaigns such as $5 meals and $6 combos have reportedly failed to consistently bring customers back. McDonald’s Franchisees Push Back on Remodeling Costs

McDonald’s Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of McDonald’s stock traded up $5.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $236.07. 4,207,002 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,184,619. The firm has a market cap of $167.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $229.20 and a 1 year high of $341.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $256.66 and its 200 day moving average is $275.31.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The fast-food giant reported $3.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 572.06% and a net margin of 31.72%.McDonald’s’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.85 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.93 per share. This represents a $7.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.86. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 60.44%.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corporation is a global quick-service restaurant company that operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald’s brand. Its restaurants serve a menu that includes hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, French fries, breakfast items, desserts, salads, beverages and coffee. Offerings vary by market, and many locations provide drive-thru service, delivery and digital ordering through the McDonald’s mobile app.

The company operates through a heavily franchised business model, with restaurants owned and operated by independent franchisees, affiliates and the company itself.