Insiders at McDonald’s and BNY Mellon Discard Shares, Interim CEO of Surgical Device Company Buys $4 Million Worth of Stock, and More

Chairman Emeritus of Well-Known Fast-Food Chain Sells Shares

A well-informed insider at McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) offloaded a sizeable block of shares this week. Andrew J. McKenna, who became Chairman Emeritus earlier this year after serving as the company’s Chairman for 12 years, discarded 30,000 shares on Monday at prices varying from $113.42 to $113.55 per share. Following the recent sale, Mr. McKenna currently holds an ownership stake of 72,514 shares.

Although the world’s biggest fast-food chain has managed to reverse a long slide in same-store sales, the company has not figured out how to get more customers into its restaurants just yet. According to internal company documents obtained by Bloomberg, McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) is facing a fourth consecutive year of U.S. traffic declines. Earlier this month, analysts at UBS lowered their price target on the fast-food chain to $130 from $137, citing challenging industry trends. UBS analysts, who have a ‘Buy’ rating on McDonald’s shares, believe the ongoing efficiency efforts implemented by the well-known fast-food chain could drive upside in the foreseeable future. The shares of McDonald’s are 5% in the red thus far in 2016. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management reported owning 7,704 shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) through the latest round of 13Fs.

Insider Selling at the World’s Largest Custody Bank

Three different insiders at Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK) sold shares earlier this week, two of whom sold mostly freshly-exercised stock options. Hence, we will have a look at the insider selling unrelated to the exercise of stock options only. Mitchell Harris, Chief Executive Officer of Investment Management for BNY Mellon (which includes the company’s asset management and wealth management businesses), liquidated 28,779 shares on Monday at prices that fell between $43.52 and $43.59 per share. Following the sale, Mr. Harris currently owns an aggregate of 166,195 shares.

The insider selling comes after the world’s largest custody bank released better-than-anticipated earnings for the third quarter, as expenses dropped 1.4% year-over-year due to the stronger U.S dollar and lower software, equipment, legal, occupancy and business development costs. Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK)’s assets under management stood at $1.72 trillion at the end of the third quarter, an increase of 5.5% year-over-year and a 3.1%-increase sequentially. BNY Mellon’s shares have gained 5% since the start of the year. Ken Fisher’s Fisher Asset Management owns 9,715 shares of Bank of New York Mellon Corp (NYSE:BK) as of September 30.

Disclosure: None