Zions Bancorporation National Association UT Raises Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Zions Bancorporation National Association UT grew its holdings in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 97.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,673 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,798 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,890,438,000. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 30,979.0% during the 1st quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,596,340 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $806,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,587,986 shares during the period. J. Stern & Co. LLP increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 9,867.5% during the 4th quarter. J. Stern & Co. LLP now owns 2,541,008 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $776,608,000 after purchasing an additional 2,515,515 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP raised its position in McDonald’s by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,125,432 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $913,157,000 after purchasing an additional 1,974,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in McDonald’s by 49.9% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,104,337 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $948,779,000 after purchasing an additional 1,033,041 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: McDonald’s valuation has become more attractive after its decline, with one bullish estimate implying substantial upside toward the Wall Street consensus target. However, analysts say investors may need to wait for clearer evidence of improved execution. Is McDonald’s a Buy Today as Lower Valuation Meets Execution Risk?
• Positive Sentiment: A workforce scheduling and transportation app reportedly helped one McDonald’s franchise avoid missed shifts and save about $35,000 per month. Wider adoption could improve staffing reliability and restaurant-level margins. Missed shifts were costly to this McDonald’s. An app has fixed the problem
• Positive Sentiment: Limited-time promotions, including Hello Kitty–Godzilla Happy Meals, new fall beverages and an afternoon-focused menu strategy aimed at Starbucks could support traffic and increase customer occasions. McDonald’s Takes Direct Aim at Starbucks
• Neutral Sentiment: McDonald’s latest quarterly earnings beat expectations on EPS, helped by franchised operations, but revenue slightly missed estimates. Investors remain focused on whether cost controls and franchise strength can offset softer U.S. demand. McDonald’s Q2 Earnings Beat Puts U.S. Traffic and Margins in Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Numerator data showed sales among low-income customers fell 2.4% in the latest quarter, indicating that prior price increases may be pushing budget-conscious diners toward alternatives. McDonald’s is losing ground to rivals like Burger King with a key customer group
• Negative Sentiment: Weak U.S. traffic, value-offer execution problems, rising beef and operating costs, and competition from Burger King are creating pressure on sales and margins. The broader economic concern flagged by restaurant and consumer-goods executives adds to the risk. Burger King is taking a bite out of McDonald’s lunch

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Cfra raised shares of McDonald’s to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,763 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.36, for a total transaction of $769,108.68. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,268 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,744,760.48. The trade was a 30.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 5,252 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.32, for a total transaction of $1,493,248.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 7,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,198,930.88. The trade was a 40.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 8,348 shares of company stock worth $2,355,634. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $267.15 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Corporation has a one year low of $260.96 and a one year high of $341.75. The company has a market cap of $189.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.49.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The fast-food giant reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.13 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 572.06% and a net margin of 31.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.44%.

About McDonald’s

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.