McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $322.87.

Several research firms have recently commented on MCD. KeyCorp raised their price target on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Erste Group Bank raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $306.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $305.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.97. McDonald’s has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. Analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid 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 2.31%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 27,497 shares of company stock valued at $8,461,400. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 157,458 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 5.2% during the 4th 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 during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.