Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 97.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 749,466 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $7,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MCK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at $633,960,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in McKesson by 16.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,148,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,238,953,000 after acquiring an additional 708,438 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in McKesson by 94,078.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 596,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $223,628,000 after purchasing an additional 595,518 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of McKesson by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 915,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $280,399,000 after purchasing an additional 320,588 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $136,975,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $537.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on McKesson in a research note on Thursday, December 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $502.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com downgraded McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on McKesson from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, SVB Leerink started coverage on McKesson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.21.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 14,026 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total transaction of $6,732,480.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,853,600. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 14,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total transaction of $6,732,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,853,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total transaction of $92,256.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $749,456. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,685 shares of company stock worth $8,646,498 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MCK opened at $539.51 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $511.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $474.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.44. McKesson Co. has a 52 week low of $349.66 and a 52 week high of $539.99.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $7.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $80.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.93 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.99% and a negative return on equity of 262.63%. McKesson’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.90 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 27.61 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 29th. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.24%.

McKesson Profile

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.