McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) Raised to Strong-Buy at Erste Group Bank

Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also commented on MCD. 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. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $342.00 to $340.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $347.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of McDonald’s from $297.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on McDonald’s from $336.00 to $360.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McDonald’s has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.39.

McDonald’s Stock Performance

MCD stock opened at $303.60 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $297.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.13. McDonald’s has a fifty-two week low of $243.53 and a fifty-two week high of $326.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.66, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.71.

McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The fast-food giant reported $2.83 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.83. McDonald’s had a net margin of 31.73% and a negative return on equity of 181.63%. Equities analysts forecast that McDonald’s will post 12.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McDonald’s Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $1.77 dividend. This represents a $7.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McDonald’s’s payout ratio is 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McDonald’s news, EVP Desiree Ralls-Morrison sold 3,409 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.15, for a total value of $989,121.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 9,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,807,201.25. This represents a 26.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Joseph M. Erlinger sold 1,099 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.10, for a total value of $319,918.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 8,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,383,235.70. The trade was a 11.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,504 shares of company stock worth $10,206,575. 0.23% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Collier Financial purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in shares of McDonald’s in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other 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.