Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Trims Stock Position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lessened its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,808,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 79,222 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $313,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 87.5% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 375 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MKC. BNP Paribas raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $79.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $386,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,302.78. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MKC opened at $77.95 on Friday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $63.67 and a twelve month high of $85.49. The stock has a market cap of $20.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.51, a PEG ratio of 3.44 and a beta of 0.77. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $79.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.24.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 15.30%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.65 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 57.14%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated 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.