McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Receives Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $325.91.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on McDonald's from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Erste Group Bank lowered shares of McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 24th. Northcoast Research cut McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of McDonald's from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 11,161 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald's

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Mattern Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in McDonald's by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $8,729,000 after buying an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank grew its position in shares of McDonald's by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $3,681,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's in the 4th quarter valued at $1,628,000. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. raised its position in McDonald's by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,888,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aviva PLC boosted its stake in McDonald's by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 432,406 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $125,350,000 after purchasing an additional 23,024 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded up $1.82 during trading on Friday, hitting $313.68. 4,056,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,515,946. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.54, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The business's fifty day moving average is $312.40 and its 200-day moving average is $302.03. McDonald's has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.70 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald's will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.49%.

About McDonald's

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.