Robert W. Baird Lowers McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) to Neutral

Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $290.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock, down from their previous price target of $320.00.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MCD. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $330.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $318.22.

McDonald’s Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of MCD opened at $292.50 on Wednesday. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The company has a market cap of $210.80 billion, a PE ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $297.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $274.88.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.17 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 60.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 11,727 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.03, for a total value of $3,518,451.81. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 49,885 shares in the company, valued at $14,966,996.55. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 9,291 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.00, for a total transaction of $2,833,755.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,193,080. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,097 shares of company stock valued at $10,256,818. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 4.7% in the third quarter. Voisard Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its position in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 24,012 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $7,312,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its position in McDonald’s by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 16,107 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,905,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in McDonald’s by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 17,598 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $5,359,000 after purchasing an additional 993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tandem Capital Management Corp ADV purchased a new position in McDonald’s in the third quarter worth about $221,000. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.