McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Shares Up 1.4% After Analyst Upgrade

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) shot up 1.4% during 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 traded 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.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $661.00.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,276,465.36. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,051 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 18,110 shares of company stock worth $10,855,706 in the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital A Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in McKesson in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in McKesson during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $85.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $633.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $584.91.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

About McKesson

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.