McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Upgraded to Buy at Citigroup

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm presently has a $334.00 target price on the fast-food giant’s stock, up from their prior target price of $311.00. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 18.35% from the stock’s previous close.

MCD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $295.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Robert W. Baird downgraded McDonald’s from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $342.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $321.39.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $282.22 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $293.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $286.27. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $243.53 and a twelve month high of $317.90. The company has a market capitalization of $202.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.78, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.73.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The fast-food giant reported $3.23 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.05. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. The business had revenue of $6.87 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.82 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. This represents a 49.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 12,050 shares of company stock valued at $3,556,688 in the last 90 days. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCD. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 31,151.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,319,142 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $706,202,000 after acquiring an additional 2,311,721 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 542.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 801,858 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $244,174,000 after acquiring an additional 677,139 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the second quarter worth $110,321,000. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the third quarter worth $121,254,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of McDonald’s by 8.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,761,625 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,216,677,000 after acquiring an additional 354,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.