Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Stock Price

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective raised by Citigroup from $373.00 to $381.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Barclays increased their target price on McDonald’s from $355.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $305.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on McDonald’s from $314.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $335.00 price target (up from $325.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald’s currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $325.86.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCD opened at $304.51 on Wednesday. McDonald’s has a 1 year low of $276.53 and a 1 year high of $326.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $217.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.09, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $305.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $306.49.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.97 EPS. Analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is presently 60.67%.

Insider Transactions at McDonald’s

In related news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total transaction of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,690. The trade was a 90.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 2,487 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $770,970.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,754 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,713,740. The trade was a 22.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,341 shares of company stock valued at $2,544,327 in the last three months. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First American Trust FSB boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 36,917 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $11,532,000 after purchasing an additional 13,234 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 248,826 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $71,829,000 after purchasing an additional 91,313 shares during the period. Hamilton Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $982,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its position in McDonald’s by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 345,319 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $107,867,000 after acquiring an additional 18,393 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

About McDonald’s

McDonald’s Corp. engages in the operation and franchising of restaurants. It operates through the following segments: U.S., International Operated Markets, and International Developmental Licensed Markets and Corporate. The U.S. segment focuses its operations on the United States. The International Operated Markets segment consists of operations and the franchising of restaurants in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and the U.K.