Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 43,538 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 4.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 843,126 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 43,538 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of McDonald's worth $256,740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald's during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in McDonald's in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in McDonald's during the 3rd quarter valued at $58,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. Robert W. Baird cut McDonald's from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on McDonald's from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $320.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 19.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total value of $328,128.43. Following the sale, the insider now owns 11,484 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. This represents a 8.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 34,099 shares of company stock valued at $10,273,786. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald's Price Performance

NYSE:MCD traded up $2.45 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $292.68. The stock had a trading volume of 7,659,155 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,483,600. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald's Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $298.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $282.20.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald's's previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.16%.

McDonald's Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.