Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 1,231,580 Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its stake in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,533,469 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 1,231,580 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.21% of McDonald's worth $444,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 110.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on MCD. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Wedbush increased their price objective on McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.91.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of McDonald's stock opened at $313.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. McDonald's Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $310.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.12.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. McDonald's's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Profile

McDonald's Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.

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