Edith Morgan Flatley Sells 3,200 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 3,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.76, for a total transaction of $962,432.00. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 9,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,964,892.08. The trade was a 24.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock traded down $3.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $301.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,990,666 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,209,347. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,652,768,000 after purchasing an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after acquiring an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MCD shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.61.

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.