Jefferies Financial Group Boosts McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target to $330.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $310.00 to $330.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $275.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a neutral rating and a $288.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $300.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $304.41.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.4 %

McDonald’s stock opened at $290.14 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $271.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $270.66. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $302.39. The stock has a market cap of $209.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.63, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.67 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $285,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 14,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,842,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 6,291 shares of company stock valued at $1,689,073. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,473,811,000 after acquiring an additional 599,745 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in McDonald’s by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,178,474,000 after purchasing an additional 987,099 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,567,030,000 after buying an additional 188,888 shares during the period. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% in the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,664,521,000 after buying an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Company Profile

McDonald's Corporation operates and franchises restaurants under the McDonald's brand in the United States and internationally. It offers food and beverages, including hamburgers and cheeseburgers, various chicken sandwiches, fries, shakes, desserts, sundaes, cookies, pies, soft drinks, coffee, and other beverages; and full or limited breakfast, as well as sells various other products during limited-time promotions.