McDonald’s’ (MCD) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at TD Cowen

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at TD Cowen in a report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $305.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock. TD Cowen’s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.17% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MCD. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price 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 dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $320.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $317.37.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $274.35 on Tuesday. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $245.73 and a 1 year high of $302.39. The company has a market capitalization of $197.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.71. The business has a 50-day moving average of $280.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $282.27.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The fast-food giant reported $2.70 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.71 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 171.96% and a net margin of 33.22%. McDonald’s’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at $4,696,517.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale 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 the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total value of $303,750.72. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of McDonald’s by 51.9% in the third quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 123 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.