McDonald’s Co. (MCD) To Go Ex-Dividend on March 3rd

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 1.77 per share by the fast-food giant on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

McDonald’s has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.9% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. McDonald’s has a payout ratio of 52.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect McDonald’s to earn $12.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.3%.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $294.39 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $290.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.40. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $210.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MCD. Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.86.

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.