Heartland Bank & Trust Co Lowers Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Heartland Bank & Trust Co decreased its position in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 916 shares of the company’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in McKesson were worth $535,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MCK. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of McKesson by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the company’s stock valued at $773,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its position in shares of McKesson by 22.2% during the fourth quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,528,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. 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 valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in McKesson by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 1,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $874,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp grew its stake in McKesson by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 8,681 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,019,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McKesson Trading Up 1.3 %

MCK stock opened at $494.42 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $64.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. McKesson Co. has a 52 week low of $431.35 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $549.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $555.57.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.21 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.94% and a negative return on equity of 242.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.07 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a boost from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.10, for a total value of $2,105,808.30. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,586 shares in the company, valued at $44,094,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on MCK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on McKesson from $576.00 to $535.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $660.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $590.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on McKesson from $623.00 to $579.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $613.36.

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.