McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Shares Up 0.5%

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)’s share price shot up 0.5% on Friday . The company traded as high as $295.76 and last traded at $295.43. 1,094,508 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 68% from the average session volume of 3,444,874 shares. The stock had previously closed at $293.85.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MCD. TD Cowen downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $285.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $275.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $306.11.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.8 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $270.84. The company has a market capitalization of $213.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.17 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.67 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total transaction of $371,893.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total transaction of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,193 shares of company stock worth $1,403,593 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the first quarter worth about $28,000. Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Accent Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About McDonald’s

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.