McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Sets New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday 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 $695.46 and last traded at $694.12, with a volume of 1203109 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $673.69.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MCK. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of McKesson from $642.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Two 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 MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $661.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction of $5,382,514.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,625 shares in the company, valued at $41,820,952.50. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value 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 represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,110 shares of company stock valued at $10,855,706 over the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,847,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,622,754,000 after purchasing an additional 222,496 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of McKesson by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,663,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,513,195,000 after purchasing an additional 10,015 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,704,000 after buying an additional 114,396 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,200,361,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of McKesson by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,532,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,218,000 after acquiring an additional 126,940 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Up 3.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $89.82 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $631.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $583.78.

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

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.