McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Stock Price Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) were up 1.4% during trading on Friday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $630.00 to $690.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. McKesson traded as high as $720.00 and last traded at $726.82. Approximately 313,450 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 846,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $716.93.

MCK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $642.00 to $745.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $661.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total value of $5,358,588.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 60,664 shares in the company, valued at $36,276,465.36. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total transaction of $114,602.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,679.09. This trade represents a 15.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,110 shares of company stock worth $10,855,706. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in McKesson by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 20,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its position in McKesson by 867.7% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in McKesson during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,018,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 13,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in McKesson by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,606,000 after purchasing an additional 162,688 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Trading Down 4.8 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $633.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $584.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.25, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation provides healthcare services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: U.S. Pharmaceutical, Prescription Technology Solutions (RxTS), Medical-Surgical Solutions, and International. The U.S. Pharmaceutical segment distributes branded, generic, specialty, biosimilar and over-the-counter pharmaceutical drugs, and other healthcare-related products.