PFG Investments LLC Sells 309 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

PFG Investments LLC cut its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 309 shares during the quarter. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $1,143,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. State Street Corp lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,706 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,115,000 after buying an additional 568,276 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,606,000 after buying an additional 441,048 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 111.2% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 733,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,041,000 after buying an additional 386,320 shares during the period. Finally, Covea Finance bought a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,740,000. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MKC shares. Barclays lowered their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. 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 report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of MKC stock opened at $76.73 on Wednesday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $64.33 and a 52-week high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.59 billion, a PE ratio of 26.10, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $76.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $78.14.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. On average, analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.35%. 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. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total transaction of $391,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,217 shares in the company, valued at $2,210,237.61. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

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.