Great Lakes Advisors LLC Increases Position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,841 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $1,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MKC. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 165.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 612,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,397,000 after acquiring an additional 8,605 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 3rd quarter valued at about $263,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 57.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 40,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 14,652 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MKC shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of 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. TD Cowen raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total transaction of $2,163,926.76. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,177 shares in the company, valued at $475,814.31. This represents a 81.97 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 23.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of MKC stock opened at $80.29 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $78.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.74. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $66.88 and a one year high of $86.24. The firm has a market cap of $21.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

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.