UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC Boosts Stake in McDonald's Corporation $MCD

Key Points

• UBS Asset Management increased its stake in McDonald's Corporation by 2.5%, acquiring over 123,000 additional shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to approximately 5.14 million shares valued at over $1.6 billion.
• McDonald's reported strong quarterly earnings, with earnings per share of $3.19, exceeding analysts' expectations, and a revenue of $6.84 billion, up 5.4% from the previous year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share set to be paid on September 16th, representing a yield of 2.3% based on its annualized dividend payout.

UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 2.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,142,473 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 123,454 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC owned about 0.72% of McDonald's worth $1,606,354,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald's by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,409,095 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $21,993,689,000 after acquiring an additional 239,753 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in McDonald's by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,917,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,954 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in McDonald's by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,965,159 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,800,447,000 after acquiring an additional 97,966 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald's by 19.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,556,485,000 after acquiring an additional 815,768 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of McDonald's by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,664,299 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,456,987,000 after buying an additional 386,392 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald's news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. This trade represents a 90.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the completion of 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 have sold 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Loop Capital downgraded shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $364.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $325.14.

McDonald's Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MCD traded up $2.38 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $308.32. 2,760,350 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,936,050. The stock has a market cap of $220.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.42, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald's Corporation has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $306.61.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted 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 negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

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