Wedbush Trims McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Target Price to $300.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price lowered by Wedbush from $330.00 to $300.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has 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.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens restated an overweight rating and issued a $320.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, February 5th. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Friday, January 5th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 5th. Evercore ISI restated an outperform rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a hold rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $318.41.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.9 %

MCD stock opened at $273.09 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $281.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $281.96. The stock has a market cap of $196.90 billion, a PE ratio of 23.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.71. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $245.73 and a 1 year high of $302.39.

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

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $303,750.72. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,696,517.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at $5,140,168.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new position in McDonald’s in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Signature Resources Capital Management LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new position in McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.