Royal Bank Of Canada Cuts McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target to $295.00

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Aug 8th, 2026

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD – Free Report) had its price objective decreased by Royal Bank Of Canada from $305.00 to $295.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $322.00 to $319.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $350.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and twelve have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $325.44.

Read Our Latest Analysis on McDonald’s

McDonald’s Stock Performance

NYSE MCD opened at $274.39 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $274.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.42. McDonald’s has a one year low of $260.96 and a one year high of $341.75. The firm has a market cap of $194.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.41.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The fast-food giant reported $3.38 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.32 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $7.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.13 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 512.80% and a net margin of 31.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. Equities analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.86 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 60.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,763 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $278.36, for a total transaction of $769,108.68. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 6,268 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,744,760.48. The trade was a 30.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 5,252 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $284.32, for a total value of $1,493,248.64. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 7,734 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,198,930.88. The trade was a 40.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,348 shares of company stock worth $2,355,634. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in McDonald’s by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,351,127 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $22,112,675,000 after purchasing an additional 703,458 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in McDonald’s by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 35,983,997 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $10,997,789,000 after buying an additional 959,140 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in McDonald’s by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,038,519 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,195,965,000 after buying an additional 76,090 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,474,749 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,895,768,000 after acquiring an additional 277,617 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $2,890,438,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about McDonald’s

Here are the key news stories impacting McDonald’s this week:

Positive Sentiment: Freedom Capital upgraded McDonald’s (MCD) from “hold” to “strong-buy,” while BTIG reiterated its “buy” rating. These calls suggest some analysts view the recent selloff as excessive and expect a recovery. McDonald’s analyst upgrade
Positive Sentiment: McDonald’s remains attractive to income-focused investors because of its long record of dividend payments. Its latest quarterly earnings also exceeded consensus expectations, and global markets continue to provide support. McDonald’s dividend history
Neutral Sentiment: Forecast coverage is mixed. Morgan Stanley lowered its price target to $319, while RBC and Robert W. Baird issued pessimistic outlooks; a separate forecast highlighted potential upside from McDonald’s loyalty scale and the faster-than-expected rollout of its beverage platform. Morgan Stanley lowers McDonald’s price target
Negative Sentiment: The main issue is weak U.S. performance. Management acknowledged an execution problem involving the value menu, digital offers, restaurant workload, and marketing—not a flawed overall strategy. Customers continue to demand better value, raising concerns about traffic and near-term sales growth. McDonald’s Q2 earnings call
Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure is increasing, with Burger King reporting stronger U.S. sales momentum as McDonald’s growth falters. Wendy’s weak traffic and withdrawn outlook add to broader investor concern about value-oriented fast-food demand. Burger King gains against McDonald’s
Negative Sentiment: McDonald’s has pushed back its goal of reaching 50,000 restaurants, suggesting that economic conditions are slowing expansion. The end of its Krispy Kreme doughnut partnership also removes a recent menu-growth initiative. McDonald’s expansion plans

About McDonald’s

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McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE: MCD) is a global quick-service restaurant company best known for its hamburgers, French fries and breakfast offerings. The company develops, operates and franchises a system of restaurants that sell a range of food and beverage items, including signature products such as the Big Mac, Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, McCafé coffee beverages and a variety of salads, desserts and seasonal menu items. McDonald’s serves customers through company-operated restaurants and franchised locations, and it supports sales via dine-in, drive-thru, digital ordering platforms and third-party delivery partnerships.

Founded in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald as a single San Bernardino, California restaurant, the business was transformed into a franchising model after Ray Kroc joined in the mid-1950s and led the brand’s national and international expansion.