McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $620.93.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MCK shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on McKesson from $670.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of McKesson from $694.00 to $671.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their target price on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $665.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK opened at $508.00 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $560.25 and its 200-day moving average is $557.24. 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 results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.21 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 242.57% and a net margin of 0.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.27 EPS. Analysts forecast that McKesson will post 32.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.92, for a total transaction of $2,180,192.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,092 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,012,564.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in McKesson in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in McKesson in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Sachetta LLC acquired a new position in McKesson in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in McKesson by 333.3% during the 1st quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 65 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.