EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $352,000 Stock Holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 5.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,579 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 217 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $352,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 177,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,127,000 after purchasing an additional 14,348 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management acquired a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter worth about $657,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 129.8% in the fourth quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 17,686 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 9,989 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 7,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $534,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKC has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Citigroup upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $76.25.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:MKC traded up $1.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $75.79. 2,667,739 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,952,640. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $59.13 and a 52 week high of $90.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $20.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $70.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.73.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 27th. The company reported $0.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.59 by $0.10. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.63% and a net margin of 11.07%. The business had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 8th were issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 8th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.31%.

Insider Activity

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 2,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $207,386.12. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.00, for a total value of $1,875,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 199,258 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,944,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 2,732 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.91, for a total value of $207,386.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 107,732 shares of company stock worth $7,982,386 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.