McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its stake in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 381,978 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 53,896 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $110,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.39.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,704 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,428. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $281.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $293.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $286.83. McDonald’s Co. has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The stock has a market cap of $201.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.71, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.