Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,404,137 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 292,412 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,578,930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,331,031 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,840,787,000 after purchasing an additional 921,936 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,828,420 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,901,595,000 after purchasing an additional 276,065 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake 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 worth $2,917,993,000 after buying an additional 1,344,954 shares during 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. Finally, 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. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho raised McDonald’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $324.57.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE:MCD opened at $309.00 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $302.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $304.27. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1-year low of $276.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.48, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,160,270. This trade represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 17,134 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $5,311,540.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,169,430. This represents a 39.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 34,463 shares of company stock valued at $10,549,351 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.