McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Given New $320.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $327.00 to $320.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the fast-food giant’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 19.96% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, BTIG Research cut shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $320.17.

McDonald’s Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD traded down $1.87 during trading on Friday, reaching $266.75. 1,100,354 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,219,175. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.33 billion, a PE ratio of 23.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $285.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $280.55. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $245.73 and a 12-month high of $302.39.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.12. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The business had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 business’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 value of $312,533.62. Following the sale, the insider now owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 599,745 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 106,340.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,235,890 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,069,234,000 after acquiring an additional 19,217,818 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 9,200,473 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $2,423,773,000 after acquiring an additional 151,161 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $2,684,899,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 987,099 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.