McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $1.77

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 6th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 1.77 per share by the fast-food giant on Monday, March 17th. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

McDonald’s has raised its dividend payment by an average of 8.9% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. McDonald’s has a payout ratio of 52.7% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect McDonald’s to earn $12.36 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $7.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 57.3%.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $294.39 on Friday. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $290.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $290.40. The company has a market capitalization of $210.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Guggenheim downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.86.

About McDonald’s

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.