Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 159 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.6% during 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 holdings 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 buying an additional 5,764,492 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 101,633 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 93,034 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% in the second quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,563,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,618,000 after buying an additional 152,184 shares during the period. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.00, for a total value of $539,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,738. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Maritza Gomez Montiel sold 7,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 5,594 shares in the company, valued at approximately $430,738. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.20, for a total transaction of $326,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 39,181 shares in the company, valued at $2,554,601.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 32,000 shares of company stock worth $2,376,400 in the last 90 days. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 1.7 %

MKC opened at $73.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.30 and a current ratio of 0.68. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $59.13 and a fifty-two week high of $94.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $70.63 and its 200 day moving average is $67.50. The stock has a market cap of $19.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 0.74.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 8th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 5th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is currently 64.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $59.00 to $57.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $60.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $77.88.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.