HighTower Advisors LLC Sells 4,603 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

HighTower Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 90,095 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,603 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $6,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 165.5% in the third 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. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 24.1% in the third 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. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 8.2% in the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 36,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,024,000 after acquiring an additional 2,794 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 12.1% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 79,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,575,000 after acquiring an additional 8,636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 526.9% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 83,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,890,000 after acquiring an additional 70,361 shares in the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $81.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $77.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.89. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $66.88 and a 1 year high of $86.24. The stock has a market cap of $21.76 billion, a PE ratio of 27.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (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%. Equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.75.

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.