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 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD traded up $1.23 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $276.81. The company had a trading volume of 3,275,408 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,243,950. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $282.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $281.24. McDonald’s Co. has a 12-month low of $245.73 and a 12-month high of $302.39. The company has a market capitalization of $199.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.74%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in McDonald’s by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 5th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Argus restated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.72.

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.