385,660 Shares in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Bought by Covea Finance

Covea Finance bought a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 385,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,740,000. McCormick & Company, Incorporated makes up 1.4% of Covea Finance's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Covea Finance owned about 0.14% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MKC. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 87.5% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 375 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 40.3% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 794 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.74% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McCormick & Company, Incorporated news, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 25,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 17th. The shares were 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 $14,944,350. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MKC traded up $0.40 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.18. The company had a trading volume of 1,550,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,941,787. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 12 month low of $59.13 and a 12 month high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.32 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 0.77. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.67.

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

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, October 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 7th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 61.31%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

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.