Arizona State Retirement System Grows Stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 37,347 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in McKesson were worth $21,284,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCK. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,029,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at about $313,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 11,450 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,566 shares during the period. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 66.4% in the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $203,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 265,488 shares of the company’s stock valued at $151,304,000 after purchasing an additional 6,091 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Mizuho initiated coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.79.

McKesson Price Performance

NYSE MCK opened at $640.39 on Thursday. McKesson Co. has a 1-year low of $464.42 and a 1-year high of $653.92. The company 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. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $598.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $566.15.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. On average, research analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total transaction of $331,645.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,276,465.36. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,268 shares of company stock valued at $11,536,378. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.