YHB Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 1,301 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC)

YHB Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,529 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,301 shares during the quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $2,861,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 21,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,627,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 9.8% during the 4th quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 4,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $331,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 40,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,051 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 43.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KFG Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. 79.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $91.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $66.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McCormick & Company, Incorporated currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $83.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael D. Mangan sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.50, for a total value of $392,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 40,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,174,226. This represents a 11.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 20,000 shares of company stock worth $1,565,850. Company insiders own 22.90% of the company’s stock.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Up 2.8 %

Shares of MKC opened at $77.00 on Tuesday. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1-year low of $64.33 and a 1-year high of $85.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $76.66 and a 200 day moving average of $78.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 3.23 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.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.03. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 11.87% and a return on equity of 15.30%. On average, research analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 2.92 EPS for the current year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 30th were given a dividend of $0.45 per share. This is an increase from McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $1.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.22%.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Company Profile

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.