McDonald's Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in McDonald's by 4.3%, selling 24,193 shares and owning around 0.08% of the company worth $169.5 million.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their holdings in McDonald's during the first quarter, with Nuveen LLC acquiring a $1.3 billion stake and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its holdings by 39,039.7%.
• McDonald's announced a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, reflecting a 2.3% yield with a payout ratio of 60.67% and will be paid to shareholders on September 16th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 542,628 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 24,193 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of McDonald's worth $169,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCD. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,324,961,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 39,039.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,092,645,000 after buying an additional 3,488,982 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,917,993,000 after buying an additional 1,344,954 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $350,935,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 19.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 4,982,825 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,556,485,000 after buying an additional 815,768 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald's news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $30,690. This trade represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,657,400. The trade was a 10.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 7,341 shares of company stock worth $2,229,327. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald's Stock Performance

McDonald's stock opened at $313.68 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $301.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.19. The company has a market capitalization of $223.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.88, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.52. McDonald's Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $276.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.McDonald's's revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.97 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Northcoast Research cut McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on McDonald's from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised McDonald's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Melius assumed coverage on McDonald's in a research note on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $350.00 price objective (up from $345.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $326.38.

McDonald's Profile

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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