Analysts Set McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Target Price at $323.61

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-six analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $323.61.

A number of research firms have commented on MCD. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price target on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total transaction of $436,134.05. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total value of $84,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,504 shares of company stock valued at $9,897,305 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 21.4% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 140,807 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $42,877,000 after buying an additional 24,787 shares during the last quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth about $127,000. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at about $200,000. Pictet North America Advisors SA boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA now owns 48,121 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,653,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alexander Labrunerie & CO. Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $315,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD opened at $304.02 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $293.36 and a 200-day moving average of $294.72. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $217.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. On average, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

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.