McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Robert W. Baird

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) was downgraded by investment analysts at Robert W. Baird from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They presently have a $290.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock, down from their prior price target of $320.00. Robert W. Baird’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 3.85% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. 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 report on Monday, July 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $295.00 to $290.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $301.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $318.22.

McDonald’s Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE MCD opened at $301.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $217.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.60, a PEG ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $296.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $274.51. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 11.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total transaction of $3,518,451.81. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,966,996.55. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in McDonald’s by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 188,888 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,005,264,000 after acquiring an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.