Christopher J. Kempczinski Sells 10,500 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.5 %

MCD stock opened at $308.59 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $221.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $291.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.20.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,394,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $1,628,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after purchasing an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $2,471,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.