McDonald’s’ (MCD) “Hold” Rating Reaffirmed at TD Cowen

TD Cowen reissued their hold rating on shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $280.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on MCD. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. KeyCorp cut their price target on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $295.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $306.11.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $299.06 on Monday. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $302.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $278.25 and its 200-day moving average is $270.62. The company has a market capitalization of $215.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.72.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.25% and a negative return on equity of 178.68%. The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.17 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.67 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.23%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is presently 56.71%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total value of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $387,285.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,193 shares of company stock worth $1,403,593. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,473,811,000 after acquiring an additional 599,745 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in McDonald’s by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,178,474,000 after acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in McDonald’s by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares during the last quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC boosted its position in McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,664,521,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609,736 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in McDonald’s by 66.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.