Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $14.04 Million Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 1.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 28,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 274 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in McKesson were worth $14,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCK. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 1,020.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 806,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,937,000 after buying an additional 734,849 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in McKesson by 17.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,467,557,000 after purchasing an additional 438,423 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in McKesson by 55.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $588,048,000 after purchasing an additional 425,875 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in McKesson by 126.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 574,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,903,000 after purchasing an additional 321,119 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in McKesson by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,943,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,444,175,000 after purchasing an additional 138,685 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McKesson Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MCK opened at $576.24 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.49. McKesson Co. has a twelve month low of $431.35 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $564.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $562.76.

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. 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 207.50% and a net margin of 0.77%. 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. As a group, analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s payout ratio is presently 14.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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. This represents a 28.64 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MCK. Robert W. Baird upgraded McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho began coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on McKesson from $560.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Baird R W upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on McKesson from $630.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $643.43.

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.