McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Purchased by Advocate Group LLC

Advocate Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,626 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s makes up 1.7% of Advocate Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Advocate Group LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $8,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $244,174,000 after acquiring an additional 677,139 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3,580.1% in the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $81,807,000 after acquiring an additional 261,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,833,510,000 after acquiring an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,905 shares of company stock worth $2,592,327 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $285.37 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $291.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $288.14. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $204.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.78.

About McDonald’s

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.