Waverly Advisors LLC Sells 794 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

Waverly Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 140,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 794 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $10,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,626 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. increased its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 5,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 137 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 43,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,278,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 12,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $954,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. 79.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MKC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price 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. Finally, Argus cut shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.14.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE:MKC opened at $74.13 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $66.88 and a 1-year high of $86.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $76.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.43.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.73% and a return on equity of 14.89%. The business’s revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 7th. 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.38, for a total value of $583,695.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Lawrence Erik Kurzius sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.81, for a total transaction of $4,090,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 247,437 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,242,820.97. This represents a 16.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 60,392 shares of company stock worth $4,898,101. Company insiders own 23.80% of the company’s stock.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

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.