Artemis Investment Management LLP Acquires 2,374 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,239 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,374 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in McKesson were worth $10,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in McKesson by 38.7% during the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,951 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,644,000 after acquiring an additional 2,217 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 180,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,642,000 after purchasing an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in McKesson by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 19,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,117,000 after buying an additional 998 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in McKesson by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 660 shares of the company’s stock worth $385,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in McKesson during the second quarter worth approximately $2,596,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $602.81, for a total value of $349,026.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $869,854.83. This represents a 28.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:MCK opened at $592.69 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $75.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a 52 week low of $464.42 and a 52 week high of $637.51. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $595.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $561.17.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 207.50% and a net margin of 0.77%. The company had revenue of $93.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.23 EPS. McKesson’s revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. McKesson’s payout ratio is currently 14.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho started coverage on McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com raised McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.14.

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.