McDonald’s Corporation $MCD Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC lessened its stake in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 1.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 298,932 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after selling 5,057 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s makes up approximately 1.0% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $80,804,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,750 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $535,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Encompass More Asset Management grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Encompass More Asset Management now owns 2,120 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $648,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Richmond Investment Services LLC now owns 2,278 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Papamarkou Wellner Asset Management inc. now owns 8,809 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,692,000 after buying an additional 32 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $642,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Key McDonald’s News

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

• Positive Sentiment: McDonald’s is taking direct aim at Starbucks with a menu strategy focused on afternoon traffic. Expanded beverage and snack offerings could help the company capture additional dayparts and improve sales momentum. McDonald’s Takes Direct Aim at Starbucks
• Positive Sentiment: New limited-time fall drinks and other menu items, along with the Hello Kitty and Godzilla Happy Meal promotion, could support customer visits and boost seasonal sales. McDonald’s Has 4 New Limited-Time Menu Items
• Positive Sentiment: An app that helps restaurants fill open shifts has reportedly reduced the cost of missed shifts at one McDonald’s location. If scalable, better staffing could improve service consistency, labor efficiency, and restaurant-level profitability. Missed shifts were costly to this McDonald’s
• Positive Sentiment: A bullish analyst cited a consensus price target substantially above the current trading level, arguing that MCD could offer significant upside after its recent decline. This is supportive sentiment, though targets remain estimates rather than catalysts. McDonald’s Keeps Cratering
• Neutral Sentiment: Xbox-related in-game rewards and other international or promotional menu stories increase brand engagement but are unlikely to materially change near-term earnings expectations. Xbox 25th Anniversary McDonald’s Rewards
• Neutral Sentiment: One valuation review described MCD as roughly fairly valued on a discounted-cash-flow basis, while market multiples suggested modest undervaluation. The assessment offers some downside support but acknowledges weaker recent U.S. sales growth. McDonald’s Stock Looks Fairly Valued
• Negative Sentiment: Commentary on McDonald’s latest earnings characterized the results and execution as underwhelming, reinforcing concerns about soft same-store sales and the effectiveness of recent initiatives. Jim Cramer Breaks Down McDonald’s Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Former Taco Bell executive Greg Creed criticized McDonald’s Red Bull beverage strategy, raising questions about product-market fit and whether the new drinks will meaningfully improve afternoon demand. Taco Bell’s Former Boss Criticizes McDonald’s Red Bull Drink

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $380.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Freedom Capital raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated a “market perform” rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $325.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 5,252 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.32, for a total transaction of $1,493,248.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 7,734 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,198,930.88. The trade was a 40.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,763 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $278.36, for a total value of $769,108.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,744,760.48. This represents a 30.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 8,348 shares of company stock worth $2,355,634 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $265.43 on Tuesday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $260.96 and a 1 year high of $341.75. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $273.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.81. The company has a market cap of $187.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.41.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The fast-food giant reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $7.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.72% and a negative return on equity of 572.06%. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.88 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.86 per share. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.44%.

McDonald’s Profile

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.