Seven Analysts Raise McDonald's Price Targets; Freedom Broker Downgrades

Eight analysts acted on McDonald's Corp (NYSE: MCD) on Thursday, Nov. 5. Seven kept their ratings and raised price targets, while Freedom Broker downgraded the stock to hold from buy and cut its target to $298 from $305.

BTIG kept its buy rating and raised its target to $305 from $295 before the open. Wells Fargo kept its overweight rating and lifted its target to $300 from $270 before the open. Keybanc kept its overweight rating and raised its target to $307 from $280 during the session. Bernstein kept its market perform rating and raised its target to $280 from $250 during the session. RBC Capital kept its sector perform rating and raised its target to $300 from $285 during the session. Citigroup kept its buy rating and raised its target to $315 from $295 after the close. JPMorgan kept its overweight rating and raised its target to $270 from $250 after the close. Freedom Broker's downgrade also came after the close.

The stock closed at $280.22 on Wednesday, Nov. 4, after rising 21.4% over the 20 sessions to that close. On Thursday the shares fell 0.8% to close at $278.04, while the S&P 500 ETF fell 4.4% that session.

Before Thursday's actions, 26 firms had rated the stock in the past year: 15 positive, 10 neutral and one negative. Their median target was $300, with targets ranging from $230 to $390.

McDonald's had a market capitalization of about $198.30 billion before the latest filing. Revenue for the last fiscal year was $26.89 billion, up 4% from a year earlier, and diluted earnings per share were $11.95, compared with $11.39.

The company filed an 8-K with the SEC on Wednesday, Nov. 4, and the analyst actions came the day after that filing.