Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Stock Price

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Citigroup from $353.00 to $364.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a "buy" rating on the fast-food giant's stock. Citigroup's price target points to a potential upside of 14.85% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $342.00 price target on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on McDonald's from $335.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on McDonald's from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays boosted their price target on McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of McDonald's in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McDonald's has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $325.91.

McDonald's Price Performance

NYSE MCD traded up $1.22 on Friday, reaching $316.94. The stock had a trading volume of 2,687,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,573,365. McDonald's has a 1-year low of $243.53 and a 1-year high of $326.32. The company has a market cap of $226.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $309.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $300.00.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The fast-food giant reported $2.67 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.67. The business had revenue of $5.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. McDonald's's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.70 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that McDonald's will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at McDonald's

In related news, CEO Christopher J. Kempczinski sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.05, for a total transaction of $3,255,525.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 32,756 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,155,997.80. This trade represents a 24.27 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.50, for a total value of $299,071.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 12,100 shares in the company, valued at $3,853,850. The trade was a 7.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,136 shares of company stock worth $8,676,247 in the last quarter. 0.25% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in McDonald's during the fourth quarter valued at $2,725,190,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of McDonald's by 39,039.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,497,919 shares of the fast-food giant's stock valued at $1,092,645,000 after purchasing an additional 3,488,982 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's during the 4th quarter valued at about $703,074,000. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $350,935,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in McDonald's by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,867,193 shares of the fast-food giant's stock worth $2,570,511,000 after purchasing an additional 895,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company's stock.

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, Spain, and the U.K.