McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Strong-Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of McKesson (NYSE:MCK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report report published on Saturday.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of McKesson from $575.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Mizuho increased their price objective on McKesson from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $510.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. SVB Leerink initiated coverage on shares of McKesson in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an outperform rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partnrs restated an outperform rating on shares of McKesson in a report on Monday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $536.71.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK stock opened at $544.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $531.17 and its 200 day moving average is $493.81. McKesson has a 52-week low of $364.08 and a 52-week high of $546.63. The company has a market capitalization of $71.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.45.

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

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.62 per share. 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%.

Insider Activity at McKesson

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

Institutional Trading of McKesson

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its position in shares of McKesson by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $989,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of McKesson during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $241,000. Independent Advisor Alliance increased its stake in McKesson by 7.7% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 1,019 shares of the company’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 5.8% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in McKesson by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. 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.