Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 181,446 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its holdings in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 928,462 shares of the company’s stock after selling 181,446 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned approximately 0.73% of McKesson worth $529,140,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in McKesson by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 20,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,542,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC boosted its stake in McKesson by 867.7% in the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares during the last quarter. Brentview Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,018,000. Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 8.2% during the 4th 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. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,606,000 after purchasing an additional 162,688 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

NYSE MCK opened at $668.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $83.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a 52-week low of $464.42 and a 52-week high of $672.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $623.58 and a 200-day moving average of $579.34.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its 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, analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total value of $5,358,588.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,276,465.36. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 18,689 shares of company stock worth $11,187,351 in the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their price objective on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com lowered McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $649.36.

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.