BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Stock Price

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $335.00 to $340.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on MCD. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Baird R W lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.8 %

MCD opened at $309.99 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $291.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $292.08. The firm has a market cap of $222.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.73 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 Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. The trade was a 3.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,652,768,000 after purchasing an additional 157,458 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,682,473,000 after purchasing an additional 52,195 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.