McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Stock Price Up 0.7% on Analyst Upgrade

McDonald’s Co. (NYSE:MCD)’s share price shot up 0.7% during trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $275.00 to $301.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. McDonald’s traded as high as $295.36 and last traded at $294.35. 416,740 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 3,468,998 shares. The stock had previously closed at $292.35.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on McDonald’s from $312.00 to $300.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on McDonald’s from $310.00 to $305.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $280.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Loop Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of McDonald’s from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $305.37.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,842,800. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,498 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.26, for a total transaction of $371,893.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at $387,285.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,098 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $285,480.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 14,780 shares in the company, valued at $3,842,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 6,291 shares of company stock worth $1,689,073. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $2,684,899,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the 4th quarter. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 5,613,710 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,664,521,000 after buying an additional 5,609,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of McDonald’s by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 5,471,007 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $1,542,550,000 after buying an additional 2,193,769 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $348,206,000. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its holdings in McDonald’s by 39.7% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,565,398 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,005,264,000 after buying an additional 1,012,534 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $213.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.17, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $270.64.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The fast-food giant reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.07 by ($0.10). McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 178.68% and a net margin of 32.25%. The business had revenue of $6.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.17 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that McDonald’s Co. will post 11.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a $1.67 dividend. This represents a $6.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 56.71%.

About McDonald’s

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.