McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Raised to $330.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price increased by Wedbush from $320.00 to $330.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the fast-food giant’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for McDonald’s’ Q1 2025 earnings at $2.59 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.00 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.12 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.39 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.24 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.05 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $11.88 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $12.37 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.82 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.23 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.48 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $3.28 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $12.80 EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Baird R W lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim lowered shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $330.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $309.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $291.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.08. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $222.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a PEG ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,906 shares of company stock valued at $5,406,382 over the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 553,284 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $160,391,000 after buying an additional 58,510 shares during the last quarter. GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $1,178,000. Advisory Research Inc. lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 4,668 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in McDonald’s by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Gratus Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,834 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.