McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Short Interest Update

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,570,000 shares, a drop of 23.0% from the December 15th total of 2,040,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 817,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total value of $331,645.41. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of McKesson

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCK. Old North State Trust LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the company’s stock worth $563,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont grew its position in shares of McKesson by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. QV Investors Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ASB Consultores LLC boosted its stake in McKesson by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. ASB Consultores LLC now owns 879 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCK traded down $10.22 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $583.51. The company had a trading volume of 722,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 650,944. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $595.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $560.90. The firm has a market cap of $74.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson has a 1-year low of $464.42 and a 1-year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a net margin of 0.77% and a negative return on equity of 207.50%. The firm had revenue of $93.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.23 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that McKesson will post 32.73 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s payout ratio is 14.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on MCK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of McKesson from $623.00 to $579.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI boosted 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. Citigroup lowered their target price on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.14.

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.