McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $834.5385.

Several research firms have recently commented on MCK. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $772.00 to $816.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of McKesson from $820.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of McKesson from $775.00 to $856.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCK opened at $795.93 on Thursday. McKesson has a fifty-two week low of $492.39 and a fifty-two week high of $797.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $724.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $711.88. The firm has a market cap of $99.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.52.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $8.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.33 by ($0.07). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 196.66% and a net margin of 0.84%.The business had revenue of $97.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $7.88 EPS. McKesson’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that McKesson will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.08%.

Insider Activity

In other McKesson news, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $663.67, for a total transaction of $218,347.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $436,031.19. This trade represents a 33.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 11,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $705.63, for a total transaction of $8,418,165.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,830,987.56. This trade represents a 74.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 24,189 shares of company stock worth $16,722,190 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Solstein Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 171.4% during the 2nd quarter. Solstein Capital LLC now owns 38 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in McKesson in the second quarter worth $29,000. GFG Capital LLC bought a new stake in McKesson in the second quarter worth $30,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in McKesson by 1,366.7% in the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 44 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Jackson Hole Trust lifted its position in McKesson by 64.3% in the first quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 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.