McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Insider Sells $303,750.72 in Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $275.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $282.06 and a 200 day moving average of $281.37. McDonald’s Co. has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 51.9% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 5th. BTIG Research lowered McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.72.

About McDonald’s

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.