McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Receives $646.14 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $646.14.

MCK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. Robert W. Baird raised McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK stock opened at $591.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $592.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $561.49. McKesson has a one year low of $464.42 and a one year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 207.50% and a net margin of 0.77%. The company had revenue of $93.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McKesson will post 32.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.71%.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,890.56. The trade was a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of McKesson by 1,020.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 806,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,937,000 after purchasing an additional 734,849 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its stake in McKesson by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,467,557,000 after purchasing an additional 438,423 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in McKesson by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,048,000 after purchasing an additional 425,875 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 126.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 574,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,903,000 after buying an additional 321,119 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in McKesson by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,606,000 after buying an additional 162,688 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.