Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 1,724 Shares of McDonald's Corporation $MCD

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC has reduced its stake in McDonald's Corporation by 22.3%, selling 1,724 shares, which now leaves them with 6,009 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million.
• Recent transactions by insiders, including a sale of 2,487 shares by EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison, indicate a decrease in ownership, with a total of 7,402 shares sold by insiders in the last three months.
• McDonald's reported a quarterly earnings per share of $3.19, exceeding analyst estimates, with a revenue of $6.84 billion, marking a 5.4% increase compared to the same quarter last year.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC reduced its stake in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 22.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,009 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 1,724 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nova Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,713,740. This trade represents a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,400. This represents a 10.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,402 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,407. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on MCD. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $373.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 price target (up previously from $325.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald's currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $325.86.

McDonald's Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of McDonald's stock opened at $300.72 on Friday. McDonald's Corporation has a 12-month low of $276.53 and a 12-month high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.77, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.50. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $306.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.17.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald's had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.67%.

About McDonald's

McDonald's Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.

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