Wellington Shields & Co. LLC Lowers Position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lessened its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,064 shares of the company’s stock after selling 289 shares during the quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC’s holdings in McKesson were worth $1,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 20,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,542,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Commerce Bank increased its position in McKesson by 2.0% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 156,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,516,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC increased its position in McKesson by 867.7% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 2,690 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in McKesson in the fourth quarter worth $3,018,000. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its position in McKesson by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 13,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCK has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction of $5,382,514.26. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,820,952.50. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 18,689 shares of company stock valued at $11,187,351 over the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McKesson Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE MCK opened at $650.96 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $608.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $570.71. The stock has a market cap of $81.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.81, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a 12 month low of $464.42 and a 12 month high of $663.62.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.00%.

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.