McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Stake Lowered by Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. trimmed its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,788 shares of the company’s stock after selling 561 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,955,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,889,787,000 after purchasing an additional 462,997 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 92,736.4% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,770,708 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,334,000 after purchasing an additional 5,764,492 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.9% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,404,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $448,737,000 after purchasing an additional 101,633 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,438,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $260,108,000 after purchasing an additional 93,034 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,563,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,618,000 after acquiring an additional 152,184 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Consumer Edge downgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Argus raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $77.88.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 0.2 %

McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $71.91 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.30. The company has a market capitalization of $19.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.74. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $59.13 and a one year high of $94.39. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $70.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $67.47.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 10.56% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.59 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $1,511,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,732 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,997.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at $430,738. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total transaction of $1,511,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,732 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,997.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 32,000 shares of company stock worth $2,376,400 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

McCormick & Company, Incorporated manufactures, markets, and distributes spices, seasoning mixes, condiments, and other flavorful products to the food industry. It operates in two segments, Consumer and Flavor Solutions. The Consumer segment offers spices, herbs, and seasonings, as well as condiments and sauces, and desserts.