McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Shares Gap Down to $505.00

Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $505.00, but opened at $487.49. McKesson shares last traded at $479.14, with a volume of 869,078 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MCK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of McKesson from $576.00 to $535.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $531.00 price objective (down from $603.00) on shares of McKesson in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of McKesson from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $610.93.

McKesson Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $558.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $557.07. The company has a market cap of $63.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.21 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $79.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 242.57% and a net margin of 0.94%. McKesson’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.11 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. This is a boost from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. McKesson’s payout ratio is currently 12.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.03, for a total value of $2,349,490.59. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,546,684.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of McKesson by 1.1% in the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,362,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,190,000 after purchasing an additional 46,659 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of McKesson by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,997,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $925,017,000 after purchasing an additional 62,242 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of McKesson by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,297,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,862,000 after buying an additional 36,583 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in McKesson during the first quarter worth $669,326,000. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in McKesson by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,183,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,763,000 after purchasing an additional 47,140 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

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.