Forsta AP Fonden Sells 31,700 Shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden reduced its stake in McDonald's Corporation by 15.1%, selling 31,700 shares, which left them with 177,800 shares valued at approximately $55.5 million.
• McDonald's reported earnings of $3.19 per share for the most recent quarter, surpassing estimates and resulting in a 5.4% increase in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, with a current dividend yield of 2.3%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 60.67%.

Forsta AP Fonden lowered its stake in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 15.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 177,800 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 31,700 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in McDonald's were worth $55,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MCD. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald's by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG raised its holdings in 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 buying 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, F M Investments LLC raised its holdings in McDonald's by 39.5% in the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 7,928 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,298,000 after buying an additional 2,244 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 976 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.50, for a total transaction of $296,216.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 7,882 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,187. This trade represents a 11.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at $2,713,740. This trade represents a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 7,280 shares of company stock valued at $2,215,178. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday. Loop Capital lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $326.87.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded down $2.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $305.62. 2,621,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,681,905. McDonald's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $265.33 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $218.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $298.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.49.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. 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.