McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Insider Joseph M. Erlinger Sells 1,099 Shares

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. This represents a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $291.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.57, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s Co. has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $282.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.43%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after buying an additional 677,139 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.65.

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.