McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Holdings Cut by IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lowered its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 19,183 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,713 shares during the quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $1,463,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,315,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,499,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114,706 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,115,000 after purchasing an additional 568,276 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2,778.8% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 456,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,606,000 after purchasing an additional 441,048 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 37.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,372,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $102,275,000 after buying an additional 374,559 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 9,283.1% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 367,253 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,999,000 after purchasing an additional 363,339 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.03, for a total transaction of $2,163,926.76. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,177 shares in the company, valued at $475,814.31. The trade was a 81.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 0.9 %

McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $81.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.71. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $66.88 and a 1 year high of $86.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $79.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $78.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.74.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is presently 61.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on MKC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Argus cut McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

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.