McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Stock Price Down 1.2% - Time to Sell?

McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 1.2% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $307.89 and last traded at $307.71. 363,555 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 3,686,058 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.30.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on McDonald's from $310.00 to $300.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of McDonald's from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $322.74.

McDonald's Stock Down 0.1 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $307.59 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $299.47. The firm has a market cap of $227.68 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. Research analysts forecast that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,099 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $304.60, for a total transaction of $334,755.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $475,176. The trade was a 41.33 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,497 shares of company stock worth $8,461,400 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald's

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald's by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $20,341,391,000 after purchasing an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald's by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,652,768,000 after buying an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in McDonald's by 5.2% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,570,511,000 after acquiring an additional 895,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Company Profile

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.