Analysts Set McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Target Price at $306.11

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $308.22.

MCD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $303.69 on Monday. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $306.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $281.71 and its 200 day moving average is $271.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.99 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 11.69 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business 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 2.33%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 56.71%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at $13,193,080. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at $13,193,080. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 33,249 shares of company stock worth $9,865,866. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 4th 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 during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% in 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 buying an additional 987,099 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC grew its stake in 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 valued at $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.