Aberdeen Group plc Grows Position in McKesson Corporation $MCK

Aberdeen Group plc raised its position in shares of McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 69,971 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in McKesson were worth $51,273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of McKesson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $475,235,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 4,559.6% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 427,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $287,840,000 after purchasing an additional 418,524 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 33.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,461,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $984,927,000 after purchasing an additional 365,484 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 92.3% in the 1st quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 650,851 shares of the company’s stock worth $437,760,000 after purchasing an additional 312,473 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of McKesson in the 1st quarter worth approximately $140,742,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, September 28th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of McKesson in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on McKesson from $821.00 to $853.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on McKesson from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on McKesson from $820.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.08.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK stock opened at $763.89 on Friday. McKesson Corporation has a 52-week low of $492.39 and a 52-week high of $776.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $707.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $706.39.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $8.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.33 by ($0.07). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 196.66% and a net margin of 0.84%.The firm had revenue of $97.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $95.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.88 earnings per share. McKesson’s quarterly revenue was up 23.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson Corporation will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other McKesson news, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 329 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.67, for a total value of $218,347.43. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,031.19. This represents a 33.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 11,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.63, for a total value of $8,418,165.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,012 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,830,987.56. This represents a 74.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 24,189 shares of company stock valued at $16,722,190 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

McKesson 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.