Van ECK Associates Corp Decreases Stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Van ECK Associates Corp reduced its stake in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 13.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,202 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in McKesson were worth $25,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCK. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in shares of McKesson by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 114 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Milestone Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $61,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.55, for a total value of $1,821,762.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,789,074.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.55, for a total value of $1,821,762.15. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 43,445 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,789,074.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total value of $92,256.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,511 shares in the company, valued at approximately $749,456. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCK has been the topic of several research reports. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on McKesson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $600.00 price target on the stock. Leerink Partnrs reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of McKesson in a research report on Monday, February 26th. StockNews.com raised McKesson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays initiated coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $537.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on McKesson from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $536.71.

McKesson Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of MCK stock opened at $537.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $529.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $491.02. McKesson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $352.34 and a fifty-two week high of $544.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $7.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.69. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 262.63% and a net margin of 0.99%. The company had revenue of $80.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.93 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 27.59 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd will be paid a $0.62 dividend. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. McKesson’s payout ratio is 11.24%.

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.