McDonald’s’ (MCD) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Argus

Argus restated their hold rating on shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on MCD. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and set a $320.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $273.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $345.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $310.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $320.60.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $282.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $203.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.72. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $245.73 and a 1-year high of $302.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $290.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $280.92.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.74%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,473,811,000 after purchasing an additional 599,745 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 34,077,338 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $10,169,018,000 after purchasing an additional 485,066 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 106,340.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,235,890 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,069,234,000 after purchasing an additional 19,217,818 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after purchasing an additional 151,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,684,899,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.