McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) Shares Sold by Virtu Financial LLC

Virtu Financial LLC decreased its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) by 74.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,899 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,972 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC's holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 35.1% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 873 shares of the company's stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 137,301 shares of the company's stock worth $11,300,000 after acquiring an additional 10,605 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,264 shares of the company's stock valued at $761,000 after buying an additional 528 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,886,987 shares of the company's stock valued at $482,823,000 after purchasing an additional 54,018 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestcor Inc boosted its stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 25.9% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 5,043 shares of the company's stock worth $415,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MKC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. BNP Paribas upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Bank of America raised their target price on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.50, for a total transaction of $392,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 40,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,174,226. The trade was a 11.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,565,850. 22.90% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Stock Performance

Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated stock traded down $0.85 on Friday, reaching $80.56. 1,467,746 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,896,260. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion, a PE ratio of 27.40, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.37 and a 200 day moving average of $76.76. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 52 week low of $63.88 and a 52 week high of $85.49.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.15. The company 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%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.65 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th will be issued a $0.45 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 30th. This is a boost from McCormick & Company, Incorporated's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.23%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's dividend payout ratio is presently 61.22%.

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.