McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Now Covered by Melius

Investment analysts at Melius started coverage on shares of McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set a "sell" rating and a $250.00 price target on the fast-food giant's stock. Melius' target price would indicate a potential downside of 15.89% from the company's previous close.

MCD has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial increased their target price on McDonald's from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. BMO Capital Markets restated an "outperform" rating and set a $345.00 price target (up previously from $340.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Monday, May 5th. TD Securities restated a "hold" rating and set a $305.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Loop Capital downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. Finally, Northcoast Research downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald's presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $319.40.

McDonald's Stock Down 0.9%

McDonald's stock opened at $297.24 on Monday. McDonald's has a 52 week low of $246.12 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The company has a market capitalization of $212.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $304.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.59.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.67. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a negative return on equity of 195.27% and a net margin of 31.75%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that McDonald's will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald's news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total value of $270,920.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 10,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,949,251.44. This trade represents a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,657,400. This trade represents a 10.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,817 shares of company stock worth $1,165,843 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald's

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,286 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 1,649 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in McDonald's by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,942 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $563,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its stake in McDonald's by 15.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 209,464 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $60,722,000 after buying an additional 27,774 shares during the period. GHE LLC increased its stake in McDonald's by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 14,677 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $4,255,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in McDonald's by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 686 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company's stock.

About McDonald's

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.

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