McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Earns Outperform Rating from Wedbush

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)‘s stock had its “outperform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Wedbush in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $295.00 price objective on the fast-food giant’s stock. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 6.25% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MCD. Barclays raised their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.22.

McDonald’s Price Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $314.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.71, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day moving average is $296.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $274.34. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.17 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493 in the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after buying an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $1,542,550,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the first quarter worth $348,206,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% in the first 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. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the second quarter worth $110,321,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.