Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Stock

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price target hoisted by Barclays from $347.00 to $350.00 in a report released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an overweight rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

MCD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $336.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Baird R W lowered McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.61.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $307.47 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $291.33 and its 200-day moving average is $291.97. The company has a market cap of $220.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. McDonald’s has a 12 month low of $243.53 and a 12 month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. Research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 11.73 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,383,235.70. This trade represents a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock valued at $2,150,857. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after acquiring an additional 526,466 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $4,652,768,000 after acquiring an additional 157,458 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 128,800 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,682,473,000 after acquiring an additional 52,195 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.