McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $533.50.

Several brokerages have issued reports on MCK. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $522.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $530.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $537.00 price target on the stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK opened at $524.83 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average is $524.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $486.65. McKesson has a 1 year low of $352.34 and a 1 year high of $543.00.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $7.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.05 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $80.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.93 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.99% and a negative return on equity of 262.63%. McKesson’s revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.90 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that McKesson will post 27.59 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,789,074.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were 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 directly owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,789,074.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total transaction of $92,256.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,511 shares in the company, valued at $749,456. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCK. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,148,794 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,238,953,000 after acquiring an additional 708,438 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 14.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,398,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,042,937,000 after acquiring an additional 294,832 shares during the period. Viking Global Investors LP lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 53.2% during the 4th quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,233,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,033,929,000 after acquiring an additional 775,480 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter worth about $1,024,140,000. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,997,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $925,017,000 after acquiring an additional 62,242 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McKesson Company 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.