Norges Bank Purchases New Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 2,106,229 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,200,361,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in McKesson during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in McKesson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, McKesson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.36.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCK opened at $666.40 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a 1 year low of $464.42 and a 1 year high of $670.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $622.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $577.72.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. Analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total transaction of $114,602.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total transaction of $5,358,588.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,276,465.36. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,689 shares of company stock valued at $11,187,351 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.