3,421 Shares in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Bought by AustralianSuper Pty Ltd

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,421 shares of the fast-food giant's stock, valued at approximately $1,069,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,692,000 after purchasing an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 15.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 209,464 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $60,722,000 after purchasing an additional 27,774 shares during the period. GHE LLC raised its holdings in McDonald's by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 14,677 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,255,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of McDonald's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Argus cut shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Melius assumed coverage on shares of McDonald's in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "sell" rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and set a $260.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald's in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $319.72.

McDonald's Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of McDonald's stock traded up $1.94 on Tuesday, hitting $297.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,337,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,517,799. McDonald's Corporation has a 52-week low of $246.12 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $302.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.88. The company has a market capitalization of $212.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.75% and a negative return on equity of 195.27%. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total value of $270,920.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 10,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,949,251.44. This trade represents a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,657,400. This trade represents a 10.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,817 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,843. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.