McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Reaches New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $300.00 to $325.00. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the stock. McDonald’s traded as high as $317.50 and last traded at $317.50, with a volume of 7841 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $316.56.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on MCD. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Argus raised shares of McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $319.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % 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 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.3% in the third quarter. DORCHESTER WEALTH MANAGEMENT Co now owns 13,229 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.3% in the third quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 6,234 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.2% in the third quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 12,111 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $3,688,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $469,000. Finally, Cherry Creek Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $226.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average is $296.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.34.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This is a boost from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 60.10%.

About McDonald’s

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.