Christopher J. Kempczinski Sells 11,727 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $303.69 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $306.96. The firm has a market cap of $218.86 billion, a PE ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.72. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $281.71 and its 200-day moving average is $271.18.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.17 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.69 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 56.71%.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,473,811,000 after purchasing an additional 599,745 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in McDonald’s by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,178,474,000 after acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares during the period. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% in the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp cut their target price on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $308.22.

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.