National Pension Service Acquires 88,369 Shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Key Points

• The National Pension Service increased its holdings in McDonald's Corporation by 5.8%, acquiring a total of 1,609,631 shares worth approximately $502.80 million.
• McDonald's reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the recent quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue up 5.4% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, reflecting a 2.3% dividend yield, to be paid on September 16th to shareholders of record.

National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,609,631 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after purchasing an additional 88,369 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.23% of McDonald's worth $502,800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Klingman & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 17.7% in the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 4,975 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 748 shares in the last quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. MSH Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,577 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Fox Hill Wealth Management now owns 3,137 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $980,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 154.3% in the 1st quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. now owns 267 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dagco Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald's in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Argus lowered McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Erste Group Bank lowered McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $326.87.

McDonald's Stock Performance

McDonald's stock traded up $3.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $308.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,698,548 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,468,737. McDonald's Corporation has a 12 month low of $271.85 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $220.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $298.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.85.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. McDonald's's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued 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 dividend yield of 2.3%. McDonald's's payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 976 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.50, for a total transaction of $296,216.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 7,882 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,392,187. The trade was a 11.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,780,165.67. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,280 shares of company stock valued at $2,215,178. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.