McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Lowered to Hold at Baird R W

Baird R W lowered shares of McKesson (NYSE:MCK) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

MCK has been the subject of several other reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $630.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $531.00 price target (down from $603.00) on shares of McKesson in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on McKesson from $596.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America increased their target price on McKesson from $590.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $610.93.

McKesson Stock Down 4.9 %

McKesson stock opened at $480.49 on Tuesday. McKesson has a 12 month low of $431.35 and a 12 month high of $637.51. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $556.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $556.74. The stock has a market cap of $62.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44.

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 company had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that McKesson will post 32.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is 12.69%.

Insider Transactions at McKesson

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.10, for a total transaction of $2,105,808.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,094,604.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of McKesson during the first quarter worth $28,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McKesson during the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its stake in shares of McKesson by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.