McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, TD Securities reissued a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $323.39.

McDonald’s Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCD opened at $306.83 on Monday. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.19. The firm has a market cap of $219.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. As a group, analysts anticipate that McDonald’s will post 12.25 earnings per share for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. This represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Manuel Jm Steijaert sold 10,459 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.71, for a total value of $3,228,797.89. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 4,606 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,421,918.26. The trade was a 69.43 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in McDonald’s by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,169,342 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $20,341,391,000 after buying an additional 526,466 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in McDonald’s by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,074,438 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,652,768,000 after buying an additional 157,458 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in McDonald’s by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,082,894 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $4,592,892,000 after purchasing an additional 128,800 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in McDonald’s by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 10,652,445 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $3,088,037,000 after purchasing an additional 531,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

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.