Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Increases Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 601 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $1,394,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $2,471,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth about $16,870,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Baird R W lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on McDonald’s from $334.00 to $336.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.87.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $288.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $206.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 3.85 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $291.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $289.51.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.