McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $666.99 and last traded at $664.09, with a volume of 753756 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $661.61.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Mizuho started coverage on shares of McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.36.

McKesson Trading Up 0.4 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $611.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $572.36. The firm has a market cap of $83.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total transaction of $331,645.41. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares in the company, valued at $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their position. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total value of $5,358,588.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,664 shares in the company, valued at $36,276,465.36. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,689 shares of company stock worth $11,187,351 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in McKesson by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,943,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,175,000 after purchasing an additional 138,685 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in McKesson by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,467,557,000 after purchasing an additional 438,423 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in McKesson by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,847,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,622,754,000 after purchasing an additional 222,496 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,663,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,513,195,000 after acquiring an additional 10,015 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,704,000 after acquiring an additional 114,396 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.