McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Upgraded by Citigroup to “Buy” Rating

Citigroup upgraded shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Citigroup currently has $334.00 price objective on the fast-food giant’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $311.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Baird R W downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $290.00 to $285.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $321.39.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of MCD stock opened at $282.22 on Friday. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $243.53 and a 52 week high of $317.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $293.94 and a 200-day moving average of $286.07. The company has a market cap of $202.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.82 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.79% and a negative return on equity of 175.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.19 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 11.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.38, for a total transaction of $321,325.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,036,366.30. This trade represents a 9.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total transaction of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. The trade was a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 12,050 shares of company stock worth $3,556,688 in the last ninety days. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCD. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 1.9% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 48,190 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $12,281,000 after purchasing an additional 915 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of McDonald’s by 4.1% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 5,824 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 4.2% during the second quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 6,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 24.2% in the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 16,339 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,164,000 after purchasing an additional 3,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TradeLink Capital LLC purchased a new position in McDonald’s during the 2nd quarter valued at about $408,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.