California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 6.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,046,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 148,599 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.29% of McDonald’s worth $636,019,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 95.7% in the 4th quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 92 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, DecisionPoint Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1,616.7% in the fourth quarter. DecisionPoint Financial LLC now owns 103 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,763 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.36, for a total transaction of $769,108.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,744,760.48. This represents a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 5,252 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.32, for a total value of $1,493,248.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 7,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,198,930.88. The trade was a 40.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,681 shares of company stock valued at $2,456,440. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More McDonald’s News

Here are the key news stories impacting McDonald’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Tigress Financial raised its price target on McDonald’s to $390 from $385 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence that the stock has meaningful upside from current levels.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst coverage and commentary continue to highlight McDonald’s value offerings, loyalty efforts, localized marketing, and menu innovation as ways the company can support customer traffic and defend sales trends.
• Neutral Sentiment: McDonald’s is expected to report second-quarter earnings next month, with consensus calling for modest single-digit profit growth, keeping investor focus on whether traffic and margins improve.
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent product news, including the new Caesar sauce and other menu rollouts, is generating consumer interest, but the items appear more promotional than clearly material to near-term earnings.
• Negative Sentiment: Articles questioning why McDonald’s stock is at nearly two-year lows and noting a 10.1% decline over the past six months versus a rising S&P 500 suggest investors are worried about relative underperformance and slowing momentum.
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary describing a “McProblem” that is not getting better points to continuing concerns about business execution, customer traffic, or overall sentiment toward the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: One recent piece also urged investors to stay skeptical, indicating that while the stock may look attractive to some value investors, there are still fundamental questions weighing on shares.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $267.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.41. McDonald’s Corporation has a 52-week low of $264.09 and a 52-week high of $341.75. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $277.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.33.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.74 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $6.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.47 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.62% and a negative return on equity of 442.10%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.67 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 2nd were issued a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Fifteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $336.32.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a global quick-service restaurant company best known for its hamburgers, French fries and breakfast offerings. The company develops, operates and franchises a system of restaurants that sell a range of food and beverage items, including signature products such as the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, McCafé coffee beverages and a variety of salads, desserts and seasonal menu items. McDonald’s serves customers through company-operated restaurants and franchised locations, and it supports sales via dine-in, drive-thru, digital ordering platforms and third-party delivery partnerships.

Founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald as a single San Bernardino, California restaurant, the business was transformed into a franchising model after Ray Kroc joined in the mid-1950s and led the brand’s national and international expansion.