Marion K. Gross Sells 1,499 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MCD traded up $2.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $294.78. The company had a trading volume of 2,239,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,679,095. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $294.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $284.66. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $211.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MCD. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird downgraded McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.65.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after purchasing an additional 188,888 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,216,677,000 after buying an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.