Aspire Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Aspire Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 6.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,239 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 79 shares during the period. Aspire Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $58,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.87.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 company’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. 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 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.4 %

MCD opened at $291.90 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $291.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $288.70. The firm has a market cap of $209.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.72 EPS for the current 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.