Rafferty Asset Management LLC Acquires 2,438 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,890 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,438 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $1,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 146.9% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 48,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,682,000 after purchasing an additional 28,736 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,652 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 851 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 19.1% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 9,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,569 shares during the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 86.9% during the 4th quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 28,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,017,000 after purchasing an additional 13,132 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MKC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Argus lowered shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.14.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MKC opened at $74.13 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $76.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.43. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12-month low of $66.88 and a 12-month high of $86.24. The firm has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced 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). McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 14.89% and a net margin of 11.73%. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.43%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s payout ratio is presently 61.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Katherine Jenkins sold 7,642 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total transaction of $583,695.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 247,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,242,820.97. This trade represents a 16.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,392 shares of company stock worth $4,898,101 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

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.