McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Trading Up 1.4% Following Analyst Upgrade

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) shares shot up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Mizuho raised their price target on the stock from $630.00 to $690.00. Mizuho currently has a neutral rating on the stock. McKesson traded as high as $720.00 and last traded at $726.82. 313,450 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 846,303 shares. The stock had previously closed at $716.93.

MCK has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on McKesson from $642.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com downgraded McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $661.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total value of $5,358,588.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,664 shares in the company, valued at $36,276,465.36. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $114,602.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,679.09. This trade represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,110 shares of company stock worth $10,855,706 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of McKesson by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,847,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,622,754,000 after buying an additional 222,496 shares during the last quarter. 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 4.6% during the 4th 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 stake in shares of McKesson during the fourth quarter worth $1,200,361,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of McKesson by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,532,203 shares of the company’s stock valued at $873,218,000 after purchasing an additional 126,940 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Up 1.2 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $631.55 and a 200 day moving average of $583.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. McKesson’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

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.