McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Stock Position Increased by Verition Fund Management LLC

Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) by 45.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 232,404 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,734 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of McCormick & Company, Incorporated worth $19,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC purchased a new position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated during the third quarter worth approximately $20,227,000. Hemenway Trust Co LLC raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 71.5% in 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 period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 14,652 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 470.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,916,000 after acquiring an additional 31,306 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 632,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,882,000 after acquiring an additional 6,588 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jacques Tapiero sold 5,000 shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.33, for a total value of $391,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 28,217 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,210,237.61. The trade was a 15.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 22.90% of the company's stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Up 0.8 %

MKC traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.41. 839,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,896,850. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $79.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.33. The company has a market cap of $21.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.67, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.77. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a fifty-two week low of $63.67 and a fifty-two week high of $85.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.32.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $1.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 15.30%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.65 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is a positive change from McCormick & Company, Incorporated's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 30th. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 61.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas raised shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $84.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $79.57.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated 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.