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

Wedbush reissued their outperform rating on shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Wedbush currently has a $295.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock.

MCD has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $318.22.

McDonald’s Price Performance

MCD opened at $298.75 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $296.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.51. The stock has a market cap of $215.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.49 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. Research analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.37%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 60.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McDonald’s news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $727,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value 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 approximately $900,550. This represents 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, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total transaction of $428,967.28. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $446,721.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,998 shares of company stock valued at $9,935,493. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the second quarter valued at $38,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth about $69,000. 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.