Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Position in McDonald's Corporation $MCD

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in McDonald's by 65.3%, now holding 11,599 shares worth approximately $3.6 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Nuveen LLC and GAMMA Investing LLC, made significant changes to their holdings, with GAMMA increasing its position by nearly 39,040%.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for McDonald's, but the consensus price target is $325.14, with 11 analysts rating the stock as a "Buy."

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 65.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,599 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 21,869 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $3,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First American Trust FSB raised its stake in McDonald's by 55.9% in the first quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 36,917 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $11,532,000 after purchasing an additional 13,234 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its position in shares of McDonald's by 58.0% during the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 248,826 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $71,829,000 after buying an additional 91,313 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald's by 35.2% during the 1st quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in McDonald's by 5.6% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 345,319 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $107,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,393 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 8,754 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,713,740. This represents a 22.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total value of $281,221.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,780,165.67. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on MCD shares. Barclays increased their target price on McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on McDonald's from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Melius initiated coverage on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "sell" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $335.00 price objective (up previously from $325.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $325.14.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of MCD traded down $2.94 on Friday, reaching $305.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,072,499 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,839,153. 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 $218.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $306.57.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The company's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. On average, analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.