BMO Capital Markets Issues Positive Forecast for McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Stock Price

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective raised by equities research analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $335.00 to $340.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the fast-food giant’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 9.54% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on MCD. Barclays increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.52.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of McDonald’s stock traded up $1.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $310.38. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,618,111 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,140,432. McDonald’s has a one year low of $243.53 and a one year high of $317.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.56. The stock has a market cap of $222.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.25, a P/E/G ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $453,882. The trade was a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 9,286 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,716,155. This trade represents a 10.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,406 shares of company stock worth $2,150,857. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 1.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,916,980 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,833,510,000 after acquiring an additional 220,365 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after acquiring an additional 128,800 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,803,833 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,682,473,000 after purchasing an additional 52,195 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in McDonald’s by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,694,202 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,650,692,000 after purchasing an additional 129,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in McDonald’s by 0.7% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,765,049 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $841,966,000 after purchasing an additional 19,867 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.