McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Shares Acquired by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 114,396 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 2.06% of McKesson worth $1,493,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCK. Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in McKesson by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock worth $769,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in McKesson by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 855,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,462,000 after acquiring an additional 272,068 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 289.6% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,477,000 after purchasing an additional 11,056 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in McKesson by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in McKesson by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 391,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,995,000 after purchasing an additional 45,024 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America dropped their target price on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $649.36.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK opened at $668.25 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $623.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $579.83. The company has a market cap of $83.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.60, a PEG 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 $673.00.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,051 shares in the company, valued at $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total transaction of $5,358,588.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,689 shares of company stock worth $11,187,351. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Company 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.