McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $1,034.11 and last traded at $1,038.0770, with a volume of 236,301 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $999.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MCK shares. Robert W. Baird set a $1,015.00 price target on McKesson in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Bank of America raised their price objective on McKesson from $950.00 to $1,050.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on McKesson from $989.00 to $1,006.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $977.00 price objective on McKesson in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Finally, Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on McKesson from $1,030.00 to $1,070.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $997.12.

McKesson Stock Up 7.0%

The stock has a market cap of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s 50-day moving average is $927.87 and its 200-day moving average is $864.61.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $9.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.56 by $0.37. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 253.21% and a net margin of 1.12%. The company had revenue of $105.38 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $103.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $8.26 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that McKesson Corporation will post 44.71 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 4th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, EVP Francisco Fraga sold 800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $995.80, for a total value of $796,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,423 shares in the company, valued at $5,400,223.40. This represents a 12.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Bradley E. Lerman sold 301 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $892.33, for a total transaction of $268,591.33. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 1,212 shares of company stock worth $1,164,182 in the last 90 days. 0.06% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in McKesson during the 2nd quarter worth about $8,156,743,000. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in McKesson by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,538,726 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,552,000 after acquiring an additional 35,916 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in McKesson by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,005,610 shares of the company’s stock valued at $870,215,000 after acquiring an additional 119,327 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in McKesson by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 922,573 shares of the company’s stock valued at $697,096,000 after acquiring an additional 29,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in McKesson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $656,566,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation is a healthcare services and information technology company that distributes pharmaceuticals and medical products to pharmacies, hospitals, health systems, physicians and other healthcare providers. The company also provides technology, data and business solutions designed to support prescription management, pharmacy operations and patient care.

McKesson’s principal activities include pharmaceutical distribution, medical-surgical supply distribution, specialty pharmaceutical services and oncology care support.