China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 2,986 Shares of McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 55.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,440 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 2,986 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $713,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 1.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 921,936 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,828,352 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $10,175,800,000 after purchasing an additional 272,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at $2,780,712,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 16.8% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 1,344,954 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 17,134 shares of McDonald’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,169,430. The trade was a 39.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 6,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.50, for a total value of $2,006,218.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 4,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,133. This represents a 58.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 40,030 shares of company stock valued at $12,240,570 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $316.84 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average of $304.98 and a 200 day moving average of $303.64. McDonald’s Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $276.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced 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 company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 280.89% and a net margin of 32.04%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on MCD. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $322.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on McDonald’s from $362.00 to $358.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $324.57.

McDonald’s 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.