McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Acquired by Essex Savings Bank

Essex Savings Bank boosted its stake in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,330 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $31,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.39.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MCD opened at $282.54 on Thursday. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $202.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.73. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $293.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.83.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,704 shares of company stock worth $2,829,428. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

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.