McDonald’s’ (MCD) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Loop Capital

Loop Capital reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in a research report released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Loop Capital currently has a $342.00 price objective on the fast-food giant’s stock.

MCD has been the subject of several other reports. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Guggenheim cut McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $320.65.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $294.78 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $294.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.42. The stock has a market cap of $211.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The company had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares in the company, valued at $900,550. This trade represents a 44.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,556,688 over the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Modus Advisors LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Modus Advisors LLC now owns 9,396 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. NRI Wealth Management LC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,868,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 8,937 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 49.3% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,093 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,939 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,722,000 after buying an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.