Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders acquired 53,490 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 77% compared to the average volume of 30,291 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.57, for a total transaction of $328,128.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,484 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,428,777.88. The trade was a 8.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. This trade represents a 48.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,597 shares of company stock worth $10,702,754 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 10.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 3,006 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $848,000 after buying an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth $729,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter worth $444,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its position in McDonald’s by 7.1% during the first quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 6,933 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,955,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Finally, Railway Pension Investments Ltd boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 5.7% in the first quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 131,600 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $37,105,000 after purchasing an additional 7,100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $296.01 on Friday. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $212.13 billion, a PE ratio of 25.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.92 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.01.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.39%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 58.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on MCD. Baird R W downgraded McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

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.