McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twenty-eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fifteen have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $324.5652.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Mizuho raised shares of McDonald’s to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $335.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $322.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $309.00 on Friday. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $276.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $302.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $304.36. The firm has a market cap of $220.06 billion, a PE ratio of 26.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.50.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The fast-food giant reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.33 by ($0.11). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be issued a $1.86 dividend. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.48%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 3,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.82, for a total transaction of $977,094.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 6,088 shares in the company, valued at $1,861,832.16. This trade represents a 34.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,463 shares of company stock valued at $10,549,351. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First American Trust FSB increased its position in McDonald’s by 55.9% during the 1st quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 36,917 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $11,532,000 after purchasing an additional 13,234 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 58.0% during the first quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 248,826 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $71,829,000 after buying an additional 91,313 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 35.2% during the first quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 206,004 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $60,188,000 after acquiring an additional 2,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter valued at $8,444,000. 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.