Woodline Partners LP Acquires 9,869 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 101,757 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,869 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $31,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MCD. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Copia Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total value of $281,221.11. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,780,165.67. This trade represents a 9.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. This represents a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327 in the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of MCD opened at $312.63 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $306.61. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $276.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $223.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.49.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for 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%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.67%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MCD. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $260.00 target price (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Loop Capital downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on McDonald’s from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Eleven investment 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.14.

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.