McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Cut to $353.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $360.00 to $353.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

MCD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Barclays lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Erste Group Bank raised McDonald’s from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wedbush upped 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, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.30.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of MCD stock opened at $299.68 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $304.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $298.75. McDonald’s has a 52-week low of $243.53 and a 52-week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.62.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 12.25 EPS for the current year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $1.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Tiffanie L. Boyd sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $309.27, for a total transaction of $309,270.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 5,564 shares in the company, valued at $1,720,778.28. This trade represents a 15.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,497 shares of company stock worth $8,461,400 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter worth about $2,725,190,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter worth approximately $703,074,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth approximately $350,935,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 11.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 4,054,387 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,175,326,000 after purchasing an additional 794,536 shares during the period. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.