McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Shares Sold by Nuance Investments LLC

Nuance Investments LLC cut its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) by 42.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 601,334 shares of the company's stock after selling 450,886 shares during the period. McCormick & Company, Incorporated accounts for about 1.7% of Nuance Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Nuance Investments LLC owned approximately 0.22% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated worth $49,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MKC. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the third quarter valued at about $20,227,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 71.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hemenway Trust Co LLC now owns 140,362 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,552,000 after acquiring an additional 58,511 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 470.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,958 shares of the company's stock worth $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 31,306 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 57.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 40,077 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 14,652 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.1% in the second quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 632,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,882,000 after purchasing an additional 6,588 shares during the period. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MKC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.57.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total value of $391,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,210,237.61. This represents a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850 over the last three months. 22.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of MKC traded up $1.82 on Wednesday, hitting $77.13. 2,101,321 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,907,271. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $63.67 and a 1 year high of $85.49. The stock's 50 day moving average is $79.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.15. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a return on equity of 15.30% and a net margin of 11.87%. The firm had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.65 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's payout ratio is 57.14%.

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.