McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Upgraded to “Hold” at Royal Bank Of Canada

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada to a “hold” rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Melius assumed coverage on McDonald’s in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $350.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 target price (up from $325.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $324.73.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of MCD stock opened at $293.76 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $305.86. The firm has a market cap of $209.63 billion, a PE ratio of 25.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s has a 12 month low of $276.53 and a 12 month high of $326.32.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. McDonald’s had a net margin of 32.21% and a negative return on equity of 225.52%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total transaction of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,160,270. The trade was a 12.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 8,754 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,713,740. This represents a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 6,402 shares of company stock valued at $1,973,407. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. boosted its stake in McDonald’s by 142.9% in the 2nd quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. now owns 85 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the period. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.