McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Raised to $360.00

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $336.00 to $360.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

MCD has been the topic of several other research reports. Bank of America raised their target price on McDonald’s from $321.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $295.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on McDonald’s from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.61.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCD opened at $309.99 on Tuesday. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $317.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.15 billion, a PE ratio of 27.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.08 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $291.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $292.08.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a negative return on equity of 175.42% and a net margin of 31.79%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 11.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $1.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $7.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. McDonald’s’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity at McDonald’s

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total value of $3,255,525.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares in the company, valued at $10,155,997.80. The trade was a 24.27 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Marion K. Gross sold 1,499 shares of McDonald’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $290.95, for a total value of $436,134.05. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $453,882. This trade represents a 49.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,906 shares of company stock worth $5,406,382 over the last three months. 0.23% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Riversedge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.0% during the third quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.0% during the third quarter. Proquility Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,472 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 2.8% during the third quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $396,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. GDS Wealth Management raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.4% during the third quarter. GDS Wealth Management now owns 2,504 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $762,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in McDonald’s by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 1,882 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is 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, Russia, Spain, and the U.K.