McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Cut to $300.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective lowered by Wedbush from $330.00 to $300.00 in a report published on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an outperform rating on the fast-food giant’s stock. Wedbush also issued estimates for McDonald’s’ Q2 2024 earnings at $3.15 EPS, Q3 2024 earnings at $3.35 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.97 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.46 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.53 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $3.28 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $13.25 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MCD. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 5th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on McDonald’s from $345.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Argus reissued a hold rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, March 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $318.41.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD opened at $273.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $245.73 and a 1 year high of $302.39. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $281.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.53.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.59 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a $1.67 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 57.74%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in 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 buying an additional 599,745 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after buying an additional 151,161 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,684,899,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in McDonald’s by 15.5% in 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 buying an additional 987,099 shares during the period. Finally, Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 141,160.9% in 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 buying an additional 5,609,736 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is 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.