McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, sixteen have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $324.5652.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCD. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $322.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 price objective on McDonald’s in a report on Friday, October 17th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th.

McDonald’s Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $314.76 on Wednesday. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $224.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $305.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.70.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.33 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.04% and a negative return on equity of 280.89%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. This represents a $7.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 63.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 3,195 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.82, for a total value of $977,094.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,861,832.16. The trade was a 34.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Ian Frederick Borden sold 17,134 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $5,311,540.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 26,353 shares in the company, valued at $8,169,430. The trade was a 39.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 40,030 shares of company stock worth $12,240,570 over the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 85 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 162.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 84 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.