McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Price Target Lowered to $297.00 at Citigroup

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $312.00 to $297.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the fast-food giant’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on MCD. Argus reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BTIG Research downgraded shares of McDonald’s from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $340.00 to $335.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $319.72.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD stock opened at $270.98 on Tuesday. McDonald’s has a one year low of $245.73 and a one year high of $302.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $283.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $280.62. The company has a market capitalization of $195.38 billion, a PE ratio of 23.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The fast-food giant reported $2.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.45 billion. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. McDonald’s’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.59 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $1.67 per share. This represents a $6.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 57.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of McDonald’s

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 3,399 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,364,000. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald’s in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 14,606 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $4,118,000 after buying an additional 4,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McDonald’s by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Cullinan Associates Inc. now owns 89,522 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $25,241,000 after buying an additional 2,246 shares in the last quarter. 70.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.