McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Receives “Buy” Rating from TD Cowen

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by equities researchers at TD Cowen in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $325.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock. TD Cowen’s price target indicates a potential upside of 21.74% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on MCD. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $327.00 to $310.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $285.00 to $322.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $320.77.

McDonald’s Stock Down 0.9 %

MCD stock traded down $2.48 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $266.96. The company had a trading volume of 1,682,976 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,228,015. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $192.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s has a one year low of $245.73 and a one year high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 12.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total value of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,049,310 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $20,473,811,000 after buying an additional 599,745 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 106,340.3% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,235,890 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $5,069,234,000 after acquiring an additional 19,217,818 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,423,773,000 after acquiring an additional 151,161 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,684,899,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in McDonald’s by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,347,048 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,178,474,000 after purchasing an additional 987,099 shares during the period. 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.