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

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and twenty have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $319.52.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MCD shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $320.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,473,811,000 after purchasing an additional 599,745 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after acquiring an additional 151,161 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,178,474,000 after acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $275.60 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $245.73 and a 52 week high of $302.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.37. The firm has a market cap of $198.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.59 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

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.