Christopher J. Kempczinski Sells 9,291 Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Stock

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,193,080. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $303.69 on Friday. McDonald’s Co. has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $306.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $281.71 and a 200-day moving average of $271.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.17 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 56.71%.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Accent Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $308.22.

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.