McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Raised to $340.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective raised by KeyCorp from $335.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, MarketBeat reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wedbush upped their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $306.95 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $301.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $298.15. The company has a market cap of $219.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.95, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $326.32.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,720,778.28. The trade was a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,405 shares of company stock worth $9,886,656 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 1.0% during 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 acquiring an additional 157,458 shares during the period. 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 valued at $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,725,190,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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, Spain, and the U.K.