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

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) traded down 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 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 research analysts also recently weighed in on MCD. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $288.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $330.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $302.00 to $288.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $313.89.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,225.38. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 800 shares of McDonald’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19 shares in the company, valued at $5,225.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,480.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,842,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,095 shares of company stock valued at $1,100,625. 0.23% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Independent Wealth Network Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 863 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Concentric Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Concentric Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,551 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $756,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Paragon Capital Management Ltd now owns 1,374 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Mechanics Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Mechanics Financial Corp now owns 5,331 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,581,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,268 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.9 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $178.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $262.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $278.79.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.36% and a negative return on equity of 180.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.63 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.