McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Downgraded to “Neutral” at Guggenheim

Guggenheim cut shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $285.00 price objective on the fast-food giant’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $290.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $296.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $308.00 to $322.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.22.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $292.61 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $210.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $274.91. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $243.53 and a 1 year high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.17 EPS. Equities analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total value of $2,833,755.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares in the company, valued at $13,193,080. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $14,966,996.55. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 34,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,256,818 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $69,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.