McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 120.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 265,677 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,288 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP owned approximately 0.10% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated worth $20,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKC. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,737,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,419,653,000 after buying an additional 303,973 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,886,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,823,000 after purchasing an additional 54,018 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,003,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,158,000 after purchasing an additional 177,567 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position 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 worth $127,115,000 after purchasing an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Argus downgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.75.

Insider Transactions at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $475,814.31. This trade represents a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.2 %

MKC opened at $81.47 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.31. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $66.88 and a 12 month high of $86.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.21%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 61.86%.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.