Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 3,926 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD)

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 2.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 144,028 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 3,926 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $44,990,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,652,768,000 after buying an additional 157,458 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,570,511,000 after acquiring an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,019,019 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,454,963,000 after acquiring an additional 504,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,595,245 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,332,116,000 after purchasing an additional 226,752 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,657,400. This represents a 10.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.49, for a total transaction of $281,221.11. Following the sale, the insider owned 9,283 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,780,165.67. The trade was a 9.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,817 shares of company stock worth $1,147,992 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. KeyCorp lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $325.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price objective (up previously from $340.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Argus downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BTIG Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $260.00 price target (down from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $322.00.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCD opened at $298.25 on Friday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 52 week low of $250.23 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $301.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $302.91. The firm has a market cap of $213.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.53.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 195.27% and a net margin of 31.75%. McDonald’s’s revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.49%.

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.