Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Decreases Stock Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,726 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 591 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $3,979,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% during 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 buying an additional 220,365 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after acquiring an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $841,966,000 after acquiring an additional 19,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders 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 Trading Up 0.3 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $285.37 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.50 billion, a PE ratio of 25.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $291.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.43.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup raised shares of McDonald’s from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $311.00 to $334.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Argus raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Barclays raised 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. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.78.

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.