920,735 Shares in McCormick & Company, Incorporated $MKC Bought by Norges Bank

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 920,735 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,711,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,679,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,225,828,000 after purchasing an additional 314,252 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 5.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,522,816 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,038,632,000 after purchasing an additional 747,844 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,508,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,571,000 after purchasing an additional 59,587 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 66.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,232,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $417,006,000 after purchasing an additional 2,494,544 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 67.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,797,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,124,003 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Gavin Hattersley acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $52.98 per share, with a total value of $105,960.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 2,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,959.88. The trade was a 220.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 10.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MKC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $67.00 to $64.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $69.00 to $55.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.36.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 1.5%

MKC stock opened at $47.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $44.82 and a 52 week high of $78.16.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The company reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.87 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.79 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 23.12% and a return on equity of 13.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 27th. Investors of record on Monday, April 20th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 20th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.48%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Profile

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE: MKC) is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and private‑label flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets.

McCormick’s product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators.