McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Trading Down 0.4% on Analyst Downgrade

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) shares traded down 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on the stock from $312.00 to $300.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. McDonald’s traded as low as $251.85 and last traded at $253.84. 775,744 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 3,432,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.80.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MCD. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $290.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $312.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,593 shares of company stock valued at $1,472,518. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,684,899,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 10,702.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,174,426 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $644,739,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154,297 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth about $348,206,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $183.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.55, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $258.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $276.71.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were given a dividend of $1.67 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.63%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 56.71%.

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.