Westpac Banking Corp Acquires 2,461 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Westpac Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 23.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,990 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,461 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in McKesson were worth $7,403,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCK. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,663,303 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,513,195,000 after acquiring an additional 10,015 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of McKesson by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,704,000 after purchasing an additional 114,396 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,200,361,000. Boston Partners lifted its position in McKesson by 24.6% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,096,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,501,000 after purchasing an additional 216,432 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in McKesson by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,606,000 after buying an additional 162,688 shares in the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on McKesson from $642.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com lowered McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, McKesson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $656.71.

McKesson Stock Performance

MCK stock opened at $694.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $629.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $582.85. McKesson Co. has a 52-week low of $464.42 and a 52-week high of $695.46.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total transaction 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 approximately $640,679.09. This trade represents a 15.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 60,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,276,465.36. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 18,110 shares of company stock worth $10,855,706. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McKesson Profile

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.