Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 291 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,296 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 291 shares during the period. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,115,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $58,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The shares were 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 owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total transaction of $321,325.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,036,366.30. This trade represents a 9.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,704 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,428 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of MCD traded down $4.36 on Thursday, hitting $277.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 378,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,710,426. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $293.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $286.83.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MCD. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp increased their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup upgraded McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $311.00 to $334.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.39.

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.