McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Cut to $300.00 by Analysts at Wedbush

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price target reduced by Wedbush from $330.00 to $300.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have 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.

MCD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $343.00 to $340.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $297.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $345.00 to $340.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $318.41.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE MCD opened at $273.09 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 1-year low of $245.73 and a 1-year high of $302.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $281.68 and a 200-day moving average of $281.53. The company has a market cap of $196.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.61, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 12.34 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $303,750.72. Following the sale, the insider now owns 16,977 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,696,517.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in McDonald’s by 51.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Institutional investors 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.