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

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)’s stock price fell 0.4% on Tuesday after Guggenheim lowered their price target on the stock from $315.00 to $280.00. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock. McDonald’s traded as low as $248.62 and last traded at $249.11. 707,687 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,412,052 shares. The stock had previously closed at $249.99.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $302.00 to $288.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. UBS Group cut their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total transaction of $220,016.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares in the company, valued at $5,225.38. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $275.02, for a total value of $220,016.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,225.38. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total transaction of $371,893.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $387,285.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,593 shares of company stock worth $1,472,518 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% 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 MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 3rd quarter worth about $33,000. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Keener Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $262.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $278.52. The company has a market capitalization of $180.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 180.74% and a net margin of 33.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.67%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 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.