McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Receives $319.46 Average Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirty ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $319.46.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. Barclays increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD stock opened at $298.56 on Tuesday. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $213.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $299.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.14.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. 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 is 58.65%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. This represents a 48.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’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 transaction of $316,992.60. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 8.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,596 shares of company stock worth $10,698,289. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after purchasing an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,694,403,000 after buying an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its stake in McDonald’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,005,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012,534 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.