BMO Capital Markets Raises McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target to $340.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price upped by BMO Capital Markets from $335.00 to $340.00 in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on MCD. TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. KeyCorp upped their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE MCD opened at $310.16 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $291.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $291.56. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total value of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,716,155. The trade was a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $1,394,000. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $1,628,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 6.5% in the third quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $14,978,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the period. Finally, PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,471,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About McDonald’s

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.