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

Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $620.93.

MCK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $665.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $596.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st.

Insider Activity

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.03, for a total value of $2,349,490.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,546,684.17. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in McKesson by 1.1% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,362,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,190,000 after purchasing an additional 46,659 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC grew its stake in McKesson by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,997,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $925,017,000 after acquiring an additional 62,242 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in McKesson by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,297,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,862,000 after acquiring an additional 36,583 shares during the period. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in McKesson during the first quarter valued at $669,326,000. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of McKesson by 4.1% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,183,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $635,763,000 after purchasing an additional 47,140 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of MCK opened at $513.91 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.96, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a 50-day moving average of $564.48 and a 200 day moving average of $557.67. McKesson has a 1-year low of $422.15 and a 1-year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.21 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $79.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 242.57% and a net margin of 0.94%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that McKesson will post 32.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. McKesson’s payout ratio is presently 12.69%.

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.