Wedbush Weighs in on McDonald’s’ FY2024 Earnings (NYSE:MCD)

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD) – Equities research analysts at Wedbush lifted their FY2024 EPS estimates for McDonald’s in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush analyst N. Setyan now expects that the fast-food giant will earn $11.83 per share for the year, up from their previous estimate of $11.75. Wedbush currently has a “Outperform” rating and a $295.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for McDonald’s’ current full-year earnings is $11.78 per share. Wedbush also issued estimates for McDonald’s’ Q2 2025 earnings at $3.15 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $3.41 EPS and FY2025 earnings at $12.53 EPS.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 3rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $284.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut shares of McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $319.46.

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:MCD opened at $292.17 on Friday. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $275.58. The stock has a market cap of $209.59 billion, a PE ratio of 25.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 178.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.19 earnings per share.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $1.77 dividend. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.67. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is currently 58.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total value of $316,992.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,632,712.10. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.70, for a total transaction of $316,992.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 12,583 shares in the company, valued at $3,632,712.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.36, for a total value of $428,967.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $446,721.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 34,097 shares of company stock worth $10,256,818 over the last quarter. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 32.3% during the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 176 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the second quarter worth approximately $65,000. 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.