Candriam S.C.A. Grows Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 106,889 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,423 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $60,917,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in McKesson by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,943,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,175,000 after purchasing an additional 138,685 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its position in McKesson by 17.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,467,557,000 after purchasing an additional 438,423 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in McKesson by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,653,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,306,873,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in McKesson by 55.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,048,000 after purchasing an additional 425,875 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in McKesson by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,606,000 after purchasing an additional 162,688 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,051 shares in the company, valued at $640,679.09. The trade was a 15.17 % 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 8,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction of $5,382,514.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 69,625 shares in the company, valued at $41,820,952.50. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 19,268 shares of company stock worth $11,536,378 in the last quarter. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Stock Performance

MCK stock opened at $640.39 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $598.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $566.15. McKesson Co. has a one year low of $464.42 and a one year high of $653.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52.

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

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCK shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Mizuho started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price target for the company. Baird R W upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.79.

McKesson Company 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.