Morgan Stanley Cuts McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target to $335.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price reduced by Morgan Stanley from $340.00 to $335.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.39.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $304.01 on Monday. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.69, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $297.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.02.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.75, for a total transaction of $84,225.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,887 shares in the company, valued at $2,214,275.25. This represents a 3.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mattern Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 30,110 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $8,729,000 after purchasing an additional 579 shares during the period. Bell Bank raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 12,699 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,681,000 after purchasing an additional 371 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,628,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd 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 buying an additional 49,106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Integral Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Integral Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 6,512 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,888,000 after buying an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.