McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) Rating Increased to Buy at The Goldman Sachs Group

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $345.00 price target on the fast-food giant's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 15.54% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Truist Financial upped their target price on McDonald's from $350.00 to $356.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus lowered shares of McDonald's from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Redburn Atlantic reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $260.00 target price (down from $319.00) on shares of McDonald's in a research report on Tuesday, June 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of McDonald's from $347.00 to $355.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of McDonald's from $292.00 to $314.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McDonald's has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $322.29.

McDonald's Stock Up 1.9%

MCD traded up $5.58 during trading on Thursday, reaching $298.60. The stock had a trading volume of 5,364,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,536,694. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $304.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.53. McDonald's has a 1-year low of $246.12 and a 1-year high of $326.32.

McDonald's (NYSE:MCD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $6.17 billion. McDonald's had a net margin of 31.75% and a negative return on equity of 195.27%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.70 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that McDonald's will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald's

In other news, CMO Edith Morgan Flatley sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $300,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer owned 8,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,657,400. This trade represents a 10.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 939 shares of McDonald's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $288.52, for a total transaction of $270,920.28. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 10,222 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,949,251.44. The trade was a 8.41% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 3,817 shares of company stock worth $1,165,843. 0.25% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nova Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in McDonald's during the first quarter valued at about $26,000. HFM Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McDonald's during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in McDonald's in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in shares of McDonald's during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of McDonald's in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 70.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.