Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 46.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,198 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $4,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Viking Global Investors LP raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 171.7% in the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 3,125,432 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $913,157,000 after buying an additional 1,974,998 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 36.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,396,837 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,336,155,000 after buying an additional 1,179,244 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,071,296 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $629,446,000 after buying an additional 1,090,849 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 927.5% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 827,547 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $251,483,000 after buying an additional 927,547 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 766.5% in the 3rd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 885,629 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $269,134,000 after buying an additional 783,416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. Citigroup increased their target price on McDonald’s from $371.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Tigress Financial increased their target price on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 6th. Erste Group Bank raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research increased their price target on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $325.00 to $320.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 13th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $339.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 26,276 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $333.54, for a total transaction of $8,764,097.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,900 shares in the company, valued at $7,638,066. This trade represents a 53.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 4,692 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $331.00, for a total value of $1,553,052.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 6,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,052,200. This trade represents a 43.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 71,657 shares of company stock valued at $23,723,307 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: McDonald’s is launching a refreshed value menu with $3 and sub-$3 items intended to drive traffic and frequency; Wall Street commentary (UBS/MarketWatch) says the move reinforces McDonald’s value advantage and could boost transactions. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple outlets detail what’s on the expanded value lineup, which should support low-end traffic and share gains if it converts light spenders. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: KeyBanc trimmed its price target to $345 but kept an Overweight rating, signaling confidence in the long-term thesis while acknowledging 2026 volatility. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus remains around a “Hold/Average” stance heading into earnings; investors will watch same-store-sales, margin commentary and promotion cadence. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Pre-earnings guides and previews are circulating—expect single-digit EPS growth forecasts and heavy analyst focus on promotions vs. margin trade-offs. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: KeyCorp and other outlets have lowered short-term expectations for MCD, flagging a more volatile 2026 outlook that pressures the stock. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Jefferies trimmed sales and same-store sales forecasts amid signs of softer March demand, warning Q1 profit may come in slightly below estimates—creates downside risk to guidance and consensus. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage (Barron’s, Yahoo) highlights the risk of diminishing returns from heavy promotions: value can drive traffic but may compress margins if sustained. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro warnings (Goldman Sachs) about near-term consumer weakness add to caution that promotions may be necessary but costly. Read More.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $301.55 on Wednesday. McDonald’s Corporation has a 12-month low of $283.47 and a 12-month high of $341.75. The company has a market cap of $214.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $318.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $311.95.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The fast-food giant reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.05 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $7.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.81 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 343.90% and a net margin of 31.85%.The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.83 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Corporation will post 13.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.26%.

McDonald’s Company 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.