McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.71

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of 0.71 per share on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%.

McKesson has increased its dividend by an average of 14.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. McKesson has a payout ratio of 6.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect McKesson to earn $36.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.7%.

McKesson Price Performance

NYSE MCK opened at $607.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.33, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.52. The business’s fifty day moving average is $592.16 and its 200-day moving average is $561.52. McKesson has a one year low of $464.42 and a one year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a net margin of 0.77% and a negative return on equity of 207.50%. The company had revenue of $93.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.23 EPS. McKesson’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that McKesson will post 32.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at McKesson

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.81, for a total value of $349,026.99. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $869,854.83. This represents a 28.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on MCK shares. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Bank of America dropped their target price on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.14.

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.