McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of McKesson (NYSE:MCK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

MCK has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on McKesson from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of McKesson from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. SVB Leerink started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an outperform rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on McKesson from $510.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McKesson has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $536.71.

McKesson Trading Up 2.1 %

NYSE:MCK opened at $544.53 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $531.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $493.81. McKesson has a 1-year low of $364.08 and a 1-year high of $546.63. The stock has a market cap of $71.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.67, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.45.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $7.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.69. McKesson had a net margin of 0.99% and a negative return on equity of 262.63%. The firm had revenue of $80.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson will post 27.59 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be issued a $0.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This represents a $2.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. McKesson’s payout ratio is currently 11.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total transaction of $92,256.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,511 shares in the company, valued at $749,456. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total value of $92,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,511 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $749,456. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.55, for a total value of $1,821,762.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares in the company, valued at $22,789,074.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,148,794 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,238,953,000 after buying an additional 708,438 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in McKesson by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,398,380 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,042,937,000 after purchasing an additional 294,832 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in McKesson during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,024,140,000. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,997,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $925,017,000 after buying an additional 62,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 3.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,595,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,656,000 after acquiring an additional 50,265 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.