Sapient Capital LLC Trims Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Sapient Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 2.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,701 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 246 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 110.0% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of MCD stock opened at $301.93 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $215.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. The business’s fifty day moving average is $311.84 and its 200 day moving average is $302.83. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Northcoast Research lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Loop Capital lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a report on Friday, June 6th. Truist Financial set a $350.00 price objective on McDonald’s in a report on Friday, May 2nd. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One equities research analyst has 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.79.

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.