China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Position in McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)

China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) by 24.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,790 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,140 shares during the quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $1,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third 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 period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $121,254,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 3,580.1% in the 3rd 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 period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $64,805,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America increased 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. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.87.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $288.83 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The company has a fifty day moving average of $291.12 and a 200-day moving average of $289.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.