Westmount Partners LLC Has $914,000 Holdings in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

Westmount Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,153 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $914,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 52,463 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $15,208,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Asset Allocation & Management Company LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $290,000. Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 25,163 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $7,295,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 72,892 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $21,131,000 after acquiring an additional 12,363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. City State Bank now owns 2,505 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $321.39.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded up $1.77 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $284.08. 1,200,011 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,773,003. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.47.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.19 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total value of $321,325.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,036,366.30. The trade was a 9.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,704 shares of company stock worth $2,829,428. Company 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.