Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Raises Holdings in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 57.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,017 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,287 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,756,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 21.9% during the 4th quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 21,487 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $6,567,000 after buying an additional 3,866 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 5.2% in the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,029,572 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $312,877,000 after acquiring an additional 51,039 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.5% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,533,015 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $465,868,000 after acquiring an additional 37,744 shares during the period. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth about $1,697,000. Finally, Machina Capital S.A.S. raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 12.3% during the third quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 15,956 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,849,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting McDonald’s

Here are the key news stories impacting McDonald’s this week:

• Positive Sentiment: McDonald’s announced a landmark stadium naming-rights deal with the Chicago Fire, branding the new venue “McDonald’s Park.” The partnership expands brand visibility, includes a new flagship restaurant, and supports youth soccer and community programs, which could help long-term brand strength. McDonald’s and Chicago Fire Football Club Announce Landmark Stadium Naming Rights Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports highlighted McDonald’s recent first-quarter beat and noted that analysts still see the company as a strong blue-chip dividend name, even after RBC trimmed its price target. This supports the view that the business remains fundamentally solid, but the market is still cautious on near-term upside. RBC Capital Trims Price Target on McDonald’s (MCD) Despite Better-than-Expected Q1
• Neutral Sentiment: Other coverage focused on McDonald’s pricing, breakfast promotions, and broader restaurant-stock trends, which may influence consumer perception but do not appear to be immediate stock catalysts.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are weighing worries that rising gas prices could squeeze consumers and reduce fast-food visits, adding pressure to McDonald’s shares after the recent earnings report. McDonald's Stock Hits 52-Week Lows: High Gas Prices Could Make Things Worse

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 2,626 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.00, for a total transaction of $806,182.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 8,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,578,800. This represents a 23.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 6,201 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.29, for a total value of $2,066,731.29. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 2,291 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $763,567.39. The trade was a 73.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 38,395 shares of company stock valued at $12,710,070 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $260.00 to $306.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Truist Financial increased their target price on McDonald’s from $356.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $365.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $345.00 to $330.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $334.45.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $275.56 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $195.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $310.47. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12 month low of $271.98 and a 12 month high of $341.75.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.74 by $0.09. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 442.10% and a net margin of 31.62%.The firm had revenue of $6.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.67 EPS. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.96 earnings per share for the current year.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a global quick-service restaurant company best known for its hamburgers, French fries and breakfast offerings. The company develops, operates and franchises a system of restaurants that sell a range of food and beverage items, including signature products such as the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, McCafé coffee beverages and a variety of salads, desserts and seasonal menu items. McDonald’s serves customers through company-operated restaurants and franchised locations, and it supports sales via dine-in, drive-thru, digital ordering platforms and third-party delivery partnerships.

Founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald as a single San Bernardino, California restaurant, the business was transformed into a franchising model after Ray Kroc joined in the mid-1950s and led the brand’s national and international expansion.