McDonald's Corporation (NYSE:MCD) Receives $325.35 Consensus Target Price 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 been assigned a consensus rating of "Hold" from the twenty-seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, fourteen have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $325.1364.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on McDonald's from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on McDonald's from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Erste Group Bank downgraded McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 24th. Melius started coverage on McDonald's in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "sell" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a report on Friday, August 8th.

Insider Transactions at McDonald's

In other McDonald's news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327. Insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald's

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the second quarter worth about $2,780,712,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 29,382.3% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,737,548 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,676,339,000 after acquiring an additional 5,718,087 shares during the last quarter. Soundwatch Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the second quarter worth about $1,412,069,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the first quarter worth about $1,324,961,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald's by 39,039.7% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $1,092,645,000 after acquiring an additional 3,488,982 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McDonald's Stock Performance

NYSE MCD traded down $2.94 on Monday, hitting $305.49. 2,072,499 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,839,153. McDonald's has a 52-week low of $276.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $305.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $306.57.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.97 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that McDonald's will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald's's payout ratio is presently 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.