McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of McKesson (NYSE:MCK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Friday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $665.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $531.00 price target (down previously from $603.00) on shares of McKesson in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of McKesson from $660.00 to $630.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $613.36.

McKesson Stock Performance

McKesson stock opened at $494.42 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $549.07 and a 200 day moving average of $555.57. McKesson has a one year low of $431.35 and a one year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.94% and a negative return on equity of 242.57%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that McKesson will post 32.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492 in the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Distillate Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 127,542.9% in the 2nd quarter. Distillate Capital Partners LLC now owns 35,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,874,000 after purchasing an additional 35,712 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its position in McKesson by 8.9% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in McKesson during the first quarter worth $5,160,000. Chase Investment Counsel Corp increased its position in McKesson by 50.8% during the second quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,247,000 after acquiring an additional 3,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the second quarter valued at $238,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

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.