McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Loop Capital

Loop Capital cut shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $315.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock, down from their previous price target of $346.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler raised their target price on McDonald’s from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.96.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of MCD opened at $307.44 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.99, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $312.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.76. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The firm had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 181.63% and a net margin of 31.73%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.49%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.07, for a total value of $295,850.73. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 11,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,516,496.27. This trade represents a 7.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,725,190,000. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,324,961,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in McDonald’s by 39,039.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,092,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,982 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $703,074,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in McDonald’s by 16.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,341,460 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,917,993,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,954 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.