Baxter Bros Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Baxter Bros Inc. reduced its stake in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 34.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,392 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 3,859 shares during the quarter. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,160,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,409,095 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $21,993,689,000 after purchasing an additional 239,753 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in McDonald’s by 16.8% during 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. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,965,159 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,800,447,000 after buying an additional 97,966 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 5,142,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,606,354,000 after buying an additional 123,454 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in McDonald’s by 19.6% during 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. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $345.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on McDonald’s from $373.00 to $381.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. TD Cowen upped their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their target price on 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $324.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,690. The trade was a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,402 shares of company stock worth $1,973,407 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of MCD opened at $294.44 on Thursday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $276.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $210.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $306.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $305.94.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.97 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

McDonald’s Company 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.