McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Shares Sold by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC reduced its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 8,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 136,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,547,000 after acquiring an additional 19,491 shares in the last quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 3,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 9,406 shares of the company’s stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 2,300 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter valued at $56,000. Finally, Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 5,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares in the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Margaret M. V. Preston sold 28,092 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,177 shares in the company, valued at approximately $475,814.31. This represents a 81.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MKC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. TD Cowen raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $86.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.75.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of MKC stock opened at $77.07 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $76.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $78.40. The firm has a market cap of $20.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.30, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 0.75. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $64.86 and a 1 year high of $85.49. 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 quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. Analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.34%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.43%.

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.