Insider Selling: McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Insider Sells 939 Shares of Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $286,395.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,978 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,263,290. The trade was a 6.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

McDonald’s Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE MCD opened at $304.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $293.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. On average, equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MCD shares. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.61.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,652,768,000 after purchasing an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.