McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• McDonald's Corporation has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from 28 research firms, with 2 sell ratings, 14 holds, and 12 buy ratings.
• The average 1-year price target set by analysts for McDonald's stock is $325.35, while recent price adjustments include upgrades from TD Cowen and JPMorgan Chase.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $1.77 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 2.3%, with the ex-dividend date on September 2nd.

Shares of McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twenty-eight research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $325.3478.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCD. Argus lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Loop Capital lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research report on Friday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of McDonald's from $356.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald's news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,690. This trade represents a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $770,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,341 shares of company stock worth $2,544,327 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald's

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in McDonald's by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,331,031 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $20,840,787,000 after acquiring an additional 921,936 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in McDonald's by 0.8% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,828,352 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $10,175,800,000 after purchasing an additional 272,139 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in McDonald's by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,828,420 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $4,901,595,000 after purchasing an additional 276,065 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in McDonald's during the second quarter worth about $2,780,712,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in McDonald's by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,917,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,954 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald's Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE:MCD opened at $314.30 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $303.87 and a 200 day moving average of $306.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $224.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.93, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.49. McDonald's has a 52 week low of $276.53 and a 52 week high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that McDonald's will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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