Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Position in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,926 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after purchasing an additional 3,533 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $7,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald's by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,833,510,000 after buying an additional 220,365 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after acquiring an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of McDonald's by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,216,677,000 after purchasing an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McDonald's Stock Performance

McDonald's stock traded up $1.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $280.90. 3,304,829 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,456,984. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.30 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald's Co. has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald's news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,704 shares of company stock worth $2,829,428. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of McDonald's from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of McDonald's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $311.00 to $334.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of McDonald's from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on McDonald's from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $321.39.

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.