McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $323.61.

MCD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $301.71 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $292.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $293.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 21,106 shares of company stock worth $6,368,814. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,592,892,000 after buying an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 5.2% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.