McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Hits New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) hit a new 52-week high 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 changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $316.56.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on MCD. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-one have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.52.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after buying an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $348,206,000. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 39.7% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after purchasing an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new position in McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $110,321,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.1 %

The stock has a market cap of $226.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $296.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $274.34.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its 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). The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $3.17 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

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