Whittier Trust Co. Decreases Stock Position in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Whittier Trust Co. lowered its position in McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,462 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 1,813 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in McDonald's were worth $22,322,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and issued a $305.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on McDonald's from $324.00 to $326.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on McDonald's from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $319.48.

McDonald's Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:MCD traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $298.10. 1,206,670 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,526,357. The firm has a market cap of $213.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.53. McDonald's Corporation has a 52 week low of $246.12 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $303.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.63.

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

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.49%.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 3,817 shares of company stock valued at $1,165,843. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Company 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.