Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Purchases 59,950 Shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated $MKC

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden boosted its McCormick stake by 156.8% in the first quarter, buying 59,950 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 98,194 shares worth about $4.95 million.
• Wall Street sentiment is mixed, with recent analyst actions including price-target cuts from Barclays, Stifel, and BNP Paribas Exane, while the overall consensus rating remains Hold with an average target price of $60.50.
• McCormick beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.80 EPS versus $0.69 expected and revenue of $1.94 billion, while also raising its FY 2026 EPS guidance to 3.05–3.13 and maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.48 per share.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Free Report) by 156.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 98,194 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 59,950 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated were worth $4,953,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MKC. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 60.9% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,659,766 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,047,000 after acquiring an additional 628,390 shares during the period. PGGM Investments lifted its position in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 746,607 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,851,000 after purchasing an additional 69,034 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 76.9% during the third quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 37,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,509,000 after purchasing an additional 16,300 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in McCormick & Company, Incorporated by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,679,906 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,225,828,000 after purchasing an additional 314,252 shares during the period. Finally, Scott & Selber Inc. purchased a new stake in McCormick & Company, Incorporated in the fourth quarter worth about $1,387,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.74% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MKC. Barclays cut their price objective on McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $57.00 to $55.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $65.00 to $55.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $83.00 to $75.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from $64.00 to $63.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of McCormick & Company, Incorporated from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.50.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Trading Down 3.1%

Shares of MKC opened at $51.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $13.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.39. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has a 1 year low of $44.82 and a 1 year high of $74.95. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.47.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated (NYSE:MKC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.11. McCormick & Company, Incorporated had a net margin of 21.91% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The firm had revenue of $1.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.91 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.69 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. McCormick & Company, Incorporated has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.050-3.130 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that McCormick & Company, Incorporated will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McCormick & Company, Incorporated Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. McCormick & Company, Incorporated's payout ratio is presently 31.95%.

Insider Activity at McCormick & Company, Incorporated

In other news, Director Gavin Hattersley acquired 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.98 per share, for a total transaction of $105,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,959.88. This trade represents a 220.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About McCormick & Company, Incorporated

McCormick & Company, Incorporated NYSE: MKC is a global leader in spices, seasonings and flavor solutions. Headquartered in Hunt Valley, Maryland, the company traces its origins to the late 19th century and has grown into a major manufacturer and marketer of branded and private‑label flavor products for consumer, industrial and foodservice markets.

McCormick's product portfolio includes pure spices and herbs, blended seasonings, marinades, rubs, sauces, extracts and specialty flavorings, along with ingredient systems and custom flavor development for manufacturers and foodservice operators.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.