Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Raises Stock Position in McDonald’s Corporation $MCD

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) by 34.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,748 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock after buying an additional 2,221 shares during the quarter. McDonald’s accounts for approximately 1.9% of Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in McDonald’s were worth $2,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 84 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 142.9% during the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 85 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter worth $25,000. GFG Capital LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Financial Gravity Companies Inc. bought a new position in McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors 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 Canada committed to year‑long price locks (including $1 coffee and $5 meal guarantees) — a consumer-oriented tactic likely to support traffic and PR in a key market, though it could pressure short‑term margins. McDonald’s Canada freezes coffee at $1 for the next year
• Positive Sentiment: Company is pushing AI across operations to address service speed and order accuracy — a potentially meaningful source of long‑term cost savings and improved throughput if execution scales. McDonald’s bets on AI in 2026 to fix a major problem
• Positive Sentiment: Operational and marketing initiatives — new drive‑thru lane changes, return of the Big Arch branding in select stores, revived promotional tactics — should boost traffic and AUVs if broadly adopted. McDonald’s is about to make big changes to its drive-thru lanes Big Arch Returns to McDonald’s—but Only Select Stores
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/earnings previews point to modest (single‑digit) bottom‑line growth next quarter — the report is a likely near‑term catalyst that could move the stock either direction. What to Expect From McDonald’s Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Neutral Sentiment: Franchise/partner updates (Armada leadership changes) and regional menu variations (France/Italy/Portugal) reflect ongoing franchised execution and localization efforts — supportive but not immediate corporate earnings drivers. Armada Appoints Todd LeBlanc…
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: Joseph Erlinger (President, International Operations) sold 2,626 shares (~$805k) and trimmed his position by ~33% — a disclosure that can be read negatively by some investors as reduced insider conviction. SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Local setback: a proposed city restaurant plan was rejected in a municipal decision, highlighting potential permitting and expansion headwinds in specific markets. McDonald’s city restaurant plan rejected
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk: renewed McRib availability prompted a class‑action lawsuit alleging misleading claims about “rib” meat — an emerging litigation item that could create reputational and legal expense noise. McDonald’s McRib class action lawsuit

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 6,567 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.50, for a total transaction of $2,006,218.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 4,606 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,407,133. This trade represents a 58.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 2,626 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.58, for a total transaction of $805,079.08. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 5,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,654,918.84. The trade was a 32.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 45,142 shares of company stock worth $13,841,169 over the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $307.82 on Thursday. McDonald’s Corporation has a twelve month low of $276.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The firm has a market cap of $219.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $308.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $305.30.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.04% and a negative return on equity of 280.89%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a $1.86 dividend. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCD shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Mizuho upgraded McDonald’s to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $328.88.

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.