McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Issues Earnings Results, Meets Expectations

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67, Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. The firm's revenue was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share.

McDonald's Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of MCD stock traded up $2.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $318.90. 952,290 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,563,173. The stock has a market cap of $228.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $309.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $300.00. McDonald's has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32.

McDonald's Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's payout ratio is 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $286,395.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,978 shares in the company, valued at $4,263,290. This represents a 6.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,136 shares of company stock valued at $8,676,247 over the last 90 days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald's

An institutional investor recently raised its position in McDonald's stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Free Report) by 21.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant's stock after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in McDonald's were worth $2,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on MCD shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on McDonald's from $353.00 to $364.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of McDonald's from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $325.91.

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.