McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $314.69, but opened at $292.77. McDonald’s shares last traded at $294.05, with a volume of 4,343,604 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on McDonald’s from $295.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Tigress Financial upped their target price on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.22.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.0 %

The stock has a market cap of $217.36 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60, a P/E/G ratio of 4.05 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $296.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $274.51.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its 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). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The company had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.17 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. This is an increase from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio is currently 60.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 12,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 2,346 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $727,260.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $900,550. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,998 shares of company stock worth $9,935,493. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in McDonald’s by 3.2% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 6,149,080 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,567,030,000 after acquiring an additional 188,888 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in McDonald’s by 66.9% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,542,550,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193,769 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 39.7% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after buying an additional 1,012,534 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after buying an additional 2,311,721 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.