McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Counsel LLC

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC lessened its holdings in McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 49.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,150 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after selling 2,063 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in McDonald's by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 542.9% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $244,174,000 after purchasing an additional 677,139 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the third quarter worth $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI raised its stake in McDonald's by 3,580.1% during the third quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 268,650 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $81,807,000 after buying an additional 261,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in McDonald's in the fourth quarter valued at $64,805,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on McDonald's from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Guggenheim cut shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $320.87.

McDonald's Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock traded down $1.61 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $291.48. 3,179,743 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,137,209. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.97. McDonald's Co. has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that McDonald's Co. will post 11.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value 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 valued at $2,592,327 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

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.