Morgan Stanley Cuts McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Price Target to $336.00

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $340.00 to $336.00 in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the fast-food giant's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective points to a potential upside of 18.79% from the company's previous close.

MCD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Guggenheim downgraded McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $315.00 to $335.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of McDonald's from $285.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Baird R W downgraded McDonald's from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on McDonald's from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $321.22.

McDonald's Stock Performance

MCD traded up $1.90 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $282.85. 3,786,284 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,997,116. McDonald's has a 12-month low of $243.53 and a 12-month high of $317.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $292.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $287.72. The company has a market cap of $202.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.82 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.19 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that McDonald's will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $294.51, for a total transaction of $441,470.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $459,435.60. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.50, for a total transaction of $321,457.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 9,286 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,716,155. This represents a 10.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,704 shares of company stock valued at $2,829,428. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald's

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MCD. Archford Capital Strategies LLC raised its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 8,821 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,557,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas raised its stake in McDonald's by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 174,808 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $50,675,000 after acquiring an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC grew its stake in McDonald's by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Stewardship Advisors LLC now owns 826 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $239,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Advocate Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of McDonald's by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 30,626 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $8,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,198 shares during the period. Finally, First Bancorp Inc ME raised its stake in shares of McDonald's by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 1,936 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $561,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.