Grimes & Company Inc. Acquires 2,877 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 3.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,537 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,877 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $6,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MKC. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,499,000 after buying an additional 1,114,706 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,115,000 after acquiring an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,606,000 after acquiring an additional 441,048 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 111.2% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 733,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,041,000 after acquiring an additional 386,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covea Finance bought a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the third quarter valued at $31,740,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $83.00.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.2 %

MKC stock opened at $74.90 on Friday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a twelve month low of $64.33 and a twelve month high of $85.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.47, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $77.99.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. On average, equities research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This is a boost from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is currently 61.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.34, for a total value of $386,700.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 28,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,182,302.78. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

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.