McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Shares Up 1.1% on Analyst Upgrade

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)’s share price shot up 1.1% during trading on Monday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $353.00 to $364.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. McDonald’s traded as high as $314.32 and last traded at $315.41. 457,648 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 3,560,683 shares. The stock had previously closed at $311.96.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on MCD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on McDonald’s from $280.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $312.00 to $316.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $325.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total transaction of $299,071.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. This represents a 7.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.25% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the fourth quarter worth $2,725,190,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 39,039.7% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,092,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,982 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth about $703,074,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s during the 4th quarter valued at about $350,935,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $225.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.72, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $309.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $299.88.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.67. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. The company had revenue of $5.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McDonald’s Co. will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.49%.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.