McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $307.93 and last traded at $307.55, with a volume of 378065 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $305.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Barclays cut their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $315.69.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $225.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.55, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $291.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $272.91.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.17 earnings per share. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares in the company, valued at $900,550. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $900,550. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $446,721.60. 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 34,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,221,233. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 66.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at $348,206,000. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth about $110,321,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 56.2% during the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,123,132 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $308,878,000 after purchasing an additional 403,958 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.