Quest Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 9,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $672,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the third quarter valued at about $47,000. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Private Trust Co. NA raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 781 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 283.9% during the fourth quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 787 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 582 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total transaction of $5,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,695,277.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 80,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.75, for a total transaction of $5,900,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 199,258 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,695,277.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia A. Little sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.57, for a total value of $1,511,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,732 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,997.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,458 shares of company stock valued at $8,286,114 over the last ninety days. 22.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $73.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.73. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52-week low of $59.13 and a 52-week high of $94.39. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $69.46. 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 (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 26th. The company reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.55 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 10.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 8th were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 5th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is 64.12%.

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.