McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stake Trimmed by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 29.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 454,852 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 191,591 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of McDonald's worth $131,857,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald's by 110.0% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 105 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 9,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This trade represents a 24.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,676,247 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCD. KeyCorp upped their target price on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Citigroup lifted their price target on McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on McDonald's from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.91.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $313.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,917,256 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,556,520. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $310.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.11. McDonald's Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.55, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The business 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%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

About McDonald's

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.