McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Shares Up 0.7%

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) shot up 0.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $250.98 and last traded at $249.45. 692,646 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 3,416,129 shares. The stock had previously closed at $247.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MCD. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $280.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Argus reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, March 25th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.89.

McDonald’s Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $262.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.74% and a net margin of 33.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.63 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 56.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,842,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total value of $285,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,842,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares in the company, valued at $5,225.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,095 shares of company stock worth $1,100,625 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.