McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eighteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $320.78.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Baird R W cut shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total value of $441,470.49. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,807,201.25. This trade represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,905 shares of company stock worth $2,592,327 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kennebec Savings Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $1,394,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,564,359 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,694,403,000 after acquiring an additional 49,106 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,186 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $14,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,471,000. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $16,870,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

McDonald’s stock opened at $285.37 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $317.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $291.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $288.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.05, a P/E/G ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The business’s revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.19 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 11.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.