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

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $315.69.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $2,833,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,193,080. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 34,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,221,233 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,612,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 58.9% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 138,102 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $35,194,000 after purchasing an additional 51,210 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth about $7,898,000. First Long Island Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 16.6% in the first quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 54,021 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $15,231,000 after buying an additional 7,707 shares during the period. Finally, Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 504.6% in the first quarter. Lloyd Advisory Services LLC. now owns 9,165 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,584,000 after buying an additional 7,649 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $314.75 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $315.36. The company has a market capitalization of $226.83 billion, a PE ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $293.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $273.48.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.17 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.10%.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.