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

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Citigroup from $312.00 to $297.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the fast-food giant’s stock. Citigroup’s target price suggests a potential upside of 11.56% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $315.00 to $300.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of McDonald’s from $291.00 to $341.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of McDonald’s in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $319.72.

McDonald’s Trading Down 0.4 %

MCD stock opened at $266.23 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $284.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $280.75. McDonald’s has a 12-month low of $245.73 and a 12-month high of $302.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. McDonald’s had a net margin of 33.22% and a negative return on equity of 171.96%. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.59 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that McDonald’s will post 12.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at McDonald’s

In other McDonald’s news, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $284.38, for a total transaction of $312,533.62. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,140,168.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McDonald’s

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MCD. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of McDonald’s by 106,340.3% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 19,235,890 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock worth $5,069,234,000 after acquiring an additional 19,217,818 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in McDonald’s during the fourth quarter valued at $2,684,899,000. Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 141,160.9% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 5,609,736 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in McDonald’s by 10,702.5% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,174,426 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $644,739,000 after purchasing an additional 2,154,297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in McDonald’s by 1,189.7% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,191,692 shares of the fast-food giant’s stock valued at $541,962,000 after purchasing an additional 2,021,754 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.29% of the company’s stock.

McDonald’s Company Profile

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.