Woodline Partners LP Buys 9,869 Shares of McDonald's Corporation $MCD

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in McDonald's by 10.7%, acquiring an additional 9,869 shares, bringing its total holdings to 101,757 shares, valued at approximately $31.79 million.
• Insider trading activity includes significant sales, with Joseph M. Erlinger selling 939 shares and EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison selling 2,487 shares, indicating a decrease in their ownership by 9.19% and 22.12% respectively.
• McDonald's recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.77, representing an annualized yield of 2.3%, with an upcoming ex-dividend date on September 2nd.

Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 101,757 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 9,869 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP's holdings in McDonald's were worth $31,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald's during the 1st quarter worth $1,324,961,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $211,824,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Price Performance

McDonald's stock traded down $3.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $302.22. The company had a trading volume of 1,408,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,525,881. The firm has a market cap of $215.66 billion, a PE ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 3.11 and a beta of 0.49. McDonald's Corporation has a one year low of $276.53 and a one year high of $326.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $305.33 and a 200 day moving average of $306.57.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business's revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that McDonald's Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 60.67%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of McDonald's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and set a $260.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital cut shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of McDonald's from $327.00 to $322.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $325.14.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In other McDonald's news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the transaction, the insider owned 9,283 shares in the company, 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 sold 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

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.