McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $649.36.

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MCK. Citigroup dropped their target price on 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 McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday.

McKesson Trading Up 1.1 %

MCK opened at $650.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $81.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson has a 12 month low of $464.42 and a 12 month high of $663.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $608.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $570.95.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McKesson will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.44%. McKesson’s payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,051 shares in the company, valued at $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total value 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. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,689 shares of company stock worth $11,187,351 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the third quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. 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.