WASHINGTON TRUST Co Buys 34 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 42.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in McKesson were worth $53,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MCK. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in shares of McKesson during the first quarter worth $46,000. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in McKesson by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,192 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Prudential PLC bought a new position in McKesson during the first quarter worth about $1,610,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in McKesson by 17.8% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 9,839 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,012,000 after acquiring an additional 1,490 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McKesson in the first quarter worth about $598,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. SVB Leerink started coverage on McKesson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $508.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Leerink Partnrs reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of McKesson in a research note on Monday, February 26th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on McKesson from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McKesson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $522.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 14,026 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total value of $6,732,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,853,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 14,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $480.00, for a total value of $6,732,480.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at $20,853,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.55, for a total value of $1,821,762.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,789,074.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,685 shares of company stock valued at $8,646,498 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

NYSE:MCK opened at $536.85 on Friday. McKesson Co. has a 52-week low of $352.34 and a 52-week high of $540.00. The company has a market cap of $70.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $512.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $475.15.

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

McKesson Announces Dividend

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

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.