McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Shares of McDonald's Co. (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty-six brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and sixteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $323.61.

MCD has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on McDonald's from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of McDonald's from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on McDonald's from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald's in a report on Tuesday, October 29th.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total transaction of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,187 shares in the company, valued at $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 22,205 shares of company stock worth $6,703,569. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McDonald's by 0.8% in 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in 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. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in McDonald's by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,725,190,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

McDonald's Price Performance

MCD traded up $1.71 on Thursday, reaching $304.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,034,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,120,908. McDonald's has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90. The business's 50 day moving average is $292.61 and its 200 day moving average is $293.76. The stock has a market cap of $218.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. As a group, research analysts forecast that McDonald's will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald's Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald's's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

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.