McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Trading 0.1% Higher

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) traded up 0.1% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $266.91 and last traded at $266.39. 597,399 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 3,212,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $266.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. BTIG Research lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 5th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.72.

McDonald’s Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $194.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.69.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.34 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 51.9% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Retirement Group LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.