Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Sells 26,884 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. lowered its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 810,032 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,884 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. owned 0.30% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated worth $61,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the fourth quarter worth $1,155,000. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 3,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Sone Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the 4th quarter worth $7,526,000. Two Sigma Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 4th quarter worth about $1,518,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 72.2% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 31,894 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,432,000 after buying an additional 13,370 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 1.5%

NYSE:MKC opened at $74.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $77.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.45. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $66.88 and a 1 year high of $86.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, April 7th were issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total transaction of $4,090,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 247,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,242,820.97. The trade was a 16.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 7,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $583,695.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,392 shares of company stock worth $4,898,101 in the last three months. 23.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on MKC shares. Argus lowered shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

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.