McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Receives $323.61 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $323.39.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MCD shares. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.1 %

MCD opened at $306.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $219.21 billion, a PE ratio of 26.94, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50 day moving average of $297.89 and a 200-day moving average of $297.19. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total value 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. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock valued at $10,206,575. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. DSG Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $662,000. Chancellor Financial Group WB LP purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $656,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 437,959 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $126,960,000 after buying an additional 72,296 shares in the last quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 2,897 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $839,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tableaux LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $415,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently 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.