McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Given Average Rating of "Hold" by Brokerages

Key Points

• McDonald's Corporation has received an average rating of "Hold" from analysts, with two sell, fourteen hold, and eleven buy recommendations; the consensus target price is $325.86.
• Recent insider transactions include CMO Edith Morgan Flatley selling 1,000 shares worth $315,000, and EVP Jonathan Banner selling another 1,000 shares for $310,000.
• McDonald's reported a 5.4% year-over-year revenue increase, with quarterly earnings of $3.19 per share, exceeding analyst expectations.

Shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-seven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $325.8636.

MCD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Friday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of McDonald's from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $345.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $373.00 to $381.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In related news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 99 shares in the company, valued at $30,690. This represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,402 shares of company stock valued at $2,273,407 over the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald's

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First American Trust FSB raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 55.9% during the first quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 36,917 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $11,532,000 after acquiring an additional 13,234 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 91,313 shares during the period. Hamilton Capital LLC raised 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 acquiring an additional 819 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 1.9% during the first quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,788,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 5.6% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 345,319 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $107,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,393 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald's Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $300.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald's has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The business's fifty day moving average is $306.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.19.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald's had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald's will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is 60.67%.

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.

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