McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $650.14.

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCK. Evercore ISI upped their target price on McKesson from $560.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of McKesson from $630.00 to $713.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective for the company.

McKesson Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MCK opened at $569.91 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $580.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $562.17. The stock has a market cap of $72.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.51, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.49. McKesson has a 1-year low of $462.70 and a 1-year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson will post 32.73 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.71%.

Insider Transactions at McKesson

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.81, for a total value of $349,026.99. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $869,854.83. The trade was a 28.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in McKesson by 2.2% during the second quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 804 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after buying an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $639,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Old North State Trust LLC grew its stake in McKesson by 1.6% during the third quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC increased its holdings in McKesson by 1.3% in the third quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 1,525 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QV Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 3,499 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 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.