McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Vista Investment Partners LLC

Vista Investment Partners LLC cut its position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,079 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $1,394,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 49,106 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 6.5% during the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after buying an additional 2,997 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $2,471,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $16,870,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on MCD shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Citigroup raised shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $311.00 to $334.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $320.78.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,905 shares of company stock worth $2,592,327 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.3 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $285.37 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $291.07 and a 200-day moving average of $288.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.