McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $899.3571.

MCK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Zacks Research cut McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. UBS Group increased their target price on McKesson from $920.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wall Street Zen cut McKesson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Barclays assumed coverage on McKesson in a research report on Monday, December 8th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $960.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $820.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In related news, EVP Thomas L. Rodgers sold 276 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $816.18, for a total value of $225,265.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,268 shares in the company, valued at $1,851,096.24. The trade was a 10.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $861.63, for a total transaction of $283,476.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 328 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,614.64. This represents a 50.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,346,661,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in McKesson by 150.4% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,268,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,661,956,000 after purchasing an additional 1,362,386 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in McKesson by 56.4% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,236,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $906,109,000 after purchasing an additional 446,060 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 45.6% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 833,780 shares of the company’s stock worth $610,977,000 after buying an additional 261,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 68.0% in the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 636,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $466,441,000 after buying an additional 257,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of MCK stock opened at $831.32 on Friday. McKesson has a 1-year low of $570.51 and a 1-year high of $895.58. The firm has a market cap of $102.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50-day moving average of $828.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $773.56.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.84 by $1.02. The firm had revenue of $103.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.80 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 1.04% and a negative return on equity of 248.14%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that McKesson will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 2nd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.21%.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is a global healthcare services and distribution company that supplies pharmaceuticals, medical-surgical products and health care technology solutions. Founded in 1833 and headquartered in Irving, Texas, McKesson operates across the drug distribution and healthcare services value chain, connecting manufacturers, pharmacies, hospitals and health systems to help manage the movement of medicines and clinical supplies.

The company’s core activities include pharmaceutical wholesale distribution and logistics, specialty pharmacy services, and the provision of medical-surgical supplies to acute and non-acute care providers.