Ballentine Partners LLC Has $468,000 Stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Ballentine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,136 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew 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 buying an additional 1,114,706 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,886,987 shares of the company’s stock valued at $482,823,000 after purchasing an additional 54,018 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,003,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,158,000 after purchasing an additional 177,567 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 58.2% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,544,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,115,000 after purchasing an additional 568,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,463,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $120,409,000 after purchasing an additional 30,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MKC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $68.00 to $66.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $86.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.63.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Price Performance

McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock opened at $74.70 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 0.75. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a one year low of $64.33 and a one year high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $76.65 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.98.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is 61.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,182,302.78. This trade represents a 15.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850 in the last three months. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated 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.