McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Trading Down 0.7% - Here's What Happened

McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) was down 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $304.77 and last traded at $304.57. Approximately 872,645 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 3,565,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $306.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCD has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their target price on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. TD Securities reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of McDonald's from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on McDonald's from $360.00 to $353.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $322.87.

McDonald's Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $225.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $306.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.00.

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McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald's Co. will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald's news, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 9,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,964,892.08. This represents a 24.51 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % 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. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald's

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,652,768,000 after purchasing an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of McDonald's by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares in the last quarter. 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.