Citigroup Cuts McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target to $375.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective cut by Citigroup from $381.00 to $375.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MCD. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on McDonald’s from $305.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Truist Financial cut their target price on McDonald’s from $360.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on McDonald’s from $350.00 to $340.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on McDonald’s from $300.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $335.00 target price on McDonald’s in a report on Friday, October 17th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $324.50.

McDonald’s Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of MCD stock opened at $307.01 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $219.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.50. McDonald’s has a twelve month low of $276.53 and a twelve month high of $326.32. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $306.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.56.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The fast-food giant reported $3.19 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.68 billion. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 225.52% and a net margin of 32.21%.McDonald’s’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McDonald’s will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a $1.86 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $7.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. This is a positive change from McDonald’s’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.77. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 60.67%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Jonathan Banner sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.00, for a total value of $310,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 99 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,690. The trade was a 90.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $315.00, for a total value of $315,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 6,858 shares in the company, valued at $2,160,270. This represents a 12.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,463 shares of company stock valued at $1,692,186 in the last ninety days. 0.25% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First American Trust FSB increased its position in McDonald’s by 55.9% in the 1st quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 36,917 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $11,532,000 after buying an additional 13,234 shares in the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA increased its position in McDonald’s by 58.0% in the 1st quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA now owns 248,826 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $71,829,000 after buying an additional 91,313 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 35.2% in the 1st quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 3,145 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $982,000 after buying an additional 819 shares in the last quarter. Welch Group LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 206,004 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $60,188,000 after buying an additional 2,180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC increased its position in McDonald’s by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,724 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,788,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About McDonald’s

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.