Ascent Group LLC Sells 2,790 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 48.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,915 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,790 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in McKesson were worth $1,441,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its stake in McKesson by 742.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 59 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McKesson during the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of McKesson during the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in McKesson in the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Carmichael Hill & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in McKesson in the 2nd quarter worth $52,000. 85.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.10, for a total transaction of $2,105,808.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,586 shares in the company, valued at $44,094,604.60. The trade was a 4.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of MCK stock opened at $617.98 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $78.45 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.49. McKesson Co. has a 1 year low of $431.35 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $547.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $560.86.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company 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%. McKesson’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.23 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on MCK shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. StockNews.com upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of McKesson from $596.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $631.57.

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.