McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Rating Lowered to Hold at Baird R W

Baird R W cut shares of McKesson (NYSE:MCK) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on McKesson from $670.00 to $630.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised their price objective on McKesson from $590.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of McKesson from $596.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird restated a neutral rating and issued a $531.00 price target (down previously from $603.00) on shares of McKesson in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on McKesson from $670.00 to $665.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $613.36.

McKesson Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of MCK stock opened at $488.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. McKesson has a 12-month low of $431.35 and a 12-month high of $637.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $552.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $555.67.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.21 by $0.67. The company had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 242.57% and a net margin of 0.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that McKesson will post 32.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $626.03, for a total transaction of $2,349,490.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 82,339 shares in the company, valued at $51,546,684.17. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 11,259 shares of company stock worth $6,635,492. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MCK. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in McKesson in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in McKesson in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 42.9% in the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% 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.