McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCDFree Report) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $345.00 price target on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. BTIG Research reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Redburn Atlantic reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective (down previously from $319.00) on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Tuesday, June 10th. TD Securities reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $305.00 price objective on shares of McDonald’s in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded McDonald’s from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $346.00 to $315.00 in a research note on Friday, June 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McDonald’s presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $322.29.

Check Out Our Latest Report on McDonald’s

McDonald’s Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of McDonald’s stock opened at $299.80 on Thursday. McDonald’s has a 52 week low of $246.12 and a 52 week high of $326.32. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $304.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.54. The firm has a market cap of $214.37 billion, a PE ratio of 26.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.53.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCDGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 negative return on equity of 195.27% and a net margin of 31.75%. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.70 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were paid a dividend of $1.77 per share. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 2nd. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total value of $270,920.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 10,222 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,949,251.44. This represents a 8.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $300,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief marketing officer directly owned 8,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,400. This represents a 10.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,817 shares of company stock worth $1,165,843 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in McDonald’s in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of McDonald’s during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

McDonald’s Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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Analyst Recommendations for McDonald's (NYSE:MCD)

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