McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Short Interest Update

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 11,030,000 shares, an increase of 26.5% from the February 13th total of 8,720,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value of $309,270.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Collier Financial acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MCD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten research 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.39.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE:MCD traded up $4.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $304.01. 2,758,371 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,327,466. The company has a fifty day moving average of $297.20 and a 200 day moving average of $297.02. The company has a market capitalization of $217.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) 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%. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

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.