McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Shares Down 0.1% - Should You Sell?

Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) traded down 0.1% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $315.03 and last traded at $315.96. 780,008 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 3,570,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $316.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on McDonald's from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $322.74.

McDonald's Trading Up 0.1 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $226.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, 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 $308.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $299.78.

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

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. 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, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was 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 directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total value of $299,071.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 28,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,676,247. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald's

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald's by 1.0% in the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake 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 worth $3,088,037,000 after acquiring an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in McDonald's during the 4th quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 895,896 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.