Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in McKesson by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 1,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $948,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC bought a new position in McKesson during the 1st quarter worth $5,160,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL acquired a new position in McKesson during the 2nd quarter worth about $238,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of McKesson by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 65,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,217,000 after buying an additional 3,982 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BDF Gestion acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the second quarter valued at about $3,504,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MCK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $590.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on McKesson from $570.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McKesson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.93.

McKesson Stock Down 4.9 %

NYSE MCK opened at $480.49 on Wednesday. McKesson Co. has a 52 week low of $431.35 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $556.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $556.74. The company has a market cap of $62.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44.

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

McKesson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.69%.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.10, for a total value of $2,105,808.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 78,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,094,604.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.11% 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.