McDonald's, Philip Morris And 2 Other Stocks Executives Are Selling

The Nasdaq 100 closed higher by over 1% during Friday's session. Investors, meanwhile, focused on some notable insider trades.

When insiders sell shares, it could be a preplanned sale, or could indicate their concern in the company's prospects or that they view the stock as being overpriced. Insider sales should not be taken as the only indicator for making an investment or trading decision. At best, it can lend conviction to a selling decision.

Below is a look at a few recent notable insider sales. For more, check out Benzinga’s insider transactions platform.

Lithia Motors

• The Trade: Lithia Motors, Inc. LAD Director Sidney B Deboer sold a total of 11,938 shares at an average price of $290.86. The insider received around $3.5 million from selling those shares.
• What's Happening: On Aug. 1, Lithia Motors reported better-than-expected second-quarter adjusted EPS results.
• What Lithia Motors Does: Lithia Motors is a retailer of new and used vehicles and related services.
• Benzinga Pro's real-time newsfeed alerted to latest LAD news.

Philip Morris International

• The Trade: Philip Morris International Inc. PM Pr SSEA CIS & MEA Region Wilde Frederic de sold a total of 20,000 shares at an average price of $119.30. The insider received around $2.4 million from selling those shares.
• What's Happening: On Aug. 14, Barclays analyst Gaurav Jain maintained Philip Morris Intl with an Overweight and raised the price target from $110 to $130.
• What Philip Morris International Does: Created from the international operations of Altria in 2008, Philip Morris International sells cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heatsticks, vapes, and oral nicotine offerings primarily outside of the US.
• Benzinga Pro’s charting tool helped identify the trend in PM stock.

McDonald’s

• The Trade: McDonald’s Corporation MCD President, McDonald’s USA Joseph M. Erlinger sold a total of 1,098 shares at an average price of $288.70. The insider received around $316,993 from selling those shares.
• What's Happening: On Aug. 19, Evercore ISI Group maintained an Outperform rating on the stock and raised its price target from $300 to $320.
• What McDonald’s Does: McDonald’s is the largest restaurant owner-operator in the world, with 2023 system sales of $130 billion across nearly than 42,000 stores and 115 markets.
• Benzinga Pro’s signals feature notified of a potential breakout in MCD shares.

Mastercard

• The Trade: Mastercard Incorporated MA EVP, Ops Excellence, HSE Dale D Friedrichs sold a total of 90,000 shares at an average price of $468.80. The insider received around $42.2 million from selling those shares.
• What's Happening: The company reportedly plans to reduce its global workforce by 3%.
• What Mastercard Does: Mastercard is the second-largest payment processor in the world, having processed close to over $9 trillion in volume during 2023.
• Benzinga’s Pro earnings calendar was used to track upcoming MA’s earnings reports.

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