McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Stock Price Up 1.7% After Analyst Upgrade

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) shares rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Argus raised their price target on the stock from $510.00 to $570.00. Argus currently has a buy rating on the stock. McKesson traded as high as $536.83 and last traded at $536.25. Approximately 55,159 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 701,256 shares. The stock had previously closed at $527.28.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on MCK. Mizuho raised their target price on McKesson from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Leerink Partnrs reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of McKesson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. SVB Leerink assumed 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. Barclays assumed coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $537.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on McKesson in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $502.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McKesson has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $528.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.55, for a total transaction of $1,821,762.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,789,074.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total value of $92,256.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $749,456. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,789,074.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at $1,024,140,000. Viking Global Investors LP increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 53.2% in the 4th quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,233,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,033,929,000 after buying an additional 775,480 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 1,044.5% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 821,262 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,228,000 after buying an additional 749,504 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,148,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,238,953,000 after buying an additional 708,438 shares during the period. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 94,078.7% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 596,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $223,628,000 after buying an additional 595,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Trading Up 0.5 %

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $522.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $482.59. The company has a market capitalization of $69.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.45.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $7.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.05 by $0.69. The company had revenue of $80.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $77.93 billion. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 262.63% and a net margin of 0.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.90 EPS. Equities analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 27.59 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

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

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.