McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Shares Down 0.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) shares fell 0.4% during trading 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 changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 3,412,052 shares. The stock had previously closed at $249.99.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MCD. Bank of America reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $302.00 to $288.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $337.00 to $320.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. Argus reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on McDonald’s from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $313.89.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $265.13, for a total transaction of $291,377.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,878 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,209,734.14. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,095 shares of company stock worth $1,100,625 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,473,811,000 after buying an additional 599,745 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,178,474,000 after buying an additional 987,099 shares during the period. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% in the fourth quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,664,521,000 after buying an additional 5,609,736 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $179.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $263.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.07.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01). McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.36% and a negative return on equity of 180.74%. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.19 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is 56.71%.

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.