McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $549.31, but opened at $606.28. McKesson shares last traded at $594.58, with a volume of 513,306 shares traded.

The company reported $7.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.89 by $0.18. The business had revenue of $93.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 242.57% and a net margin of 0.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.23 EPS.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MCK. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $576.00 to $535.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of McKesson from $560.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $625.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.10, for a total transaction of $2,105,808.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 78,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $44,094,604.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MCK. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of McKesson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $669,326,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 1,020.2% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 806,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,937,000 after acquiring an additional 734,849 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 3,621.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 349,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,572,000 after acquiring an additional 340,007 shares during the last quarter. Bristol Gate Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McKesson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $97,510,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 581.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 151,240 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,776,000 after acquiring an additional 129,031 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McKesson Trading Up 10.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $78.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $510.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $550.61.

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.