McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Increased to $340.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $296.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MCD. UBS Group increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Guggenheim increased their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.69.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $316.53 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $294.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $273.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $228.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.18.

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

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,550. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,097 shares of company stock worth $10,221,233 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $65,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.