McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR lessened its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,368 shares of the company’s stock after selling 192 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MKC. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after purchasing an additional 1,114,706 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,115,000 after purchasing an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,606,000 after purchasing an additional 441,048 shares during the last quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 321.2% in the fourth quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 449,870 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,298,000 after purchasing an additional 343,070 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3,499.8% during the third quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 334,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,552,000 after acquiring an additional 325,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.6 %

MKC opened at $77.07 on Friday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $64.86 and a 52 week high of $85.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $78.39. The firm has a market cap of $20.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. On average, equities analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.43%.

Insider Activity at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total transaction of $2,163,926.76. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $475,814.31. The trade was a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Profile

McCormick & Co, Inc engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to retail outlets, food manufacturers, and foodservice businesses. It operates through the Consumer and Flavor Solutions segments. The Consumer segment sells spices, seasonings, condiments, and sauces.