McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison Sells 2,486 Shares

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,486 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $320.00, for a total transaction of $795,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 6,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,005,760. The trade was a 28.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock traded up $2.51 on Thursday, reaching $321.20. The company had a trading volume of 1,421,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,434,606. The firm has a market cap of $228.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $306.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $303.80. McDonald’s Corporation has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.04% and a negative return on equity of 280.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Corporation will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 63.48%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,647,669 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $21,773,010,000 after purchasing an additional 316,638 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,024,857 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $10,643,704,000 after buying an additional 196,505 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,828,420 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,901,595,000 after acquiring an additional 276,065 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,780,712,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in McDonald’s by 16.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,917,993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,344,954 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada started coverage on McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $320.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $322.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $324.57.

About McDonald’s

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.