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

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

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $590.00 to $670.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $576.00 to $535.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $596.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $665.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $613.36.

McKesson Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:MCK opened at $479.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $554.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.20. The stock has a market cap of $62.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. McKesson has a fifty-two week low of $431.35 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $7.21 by $0.67. McKesson had a net margin of 0.94% and a negative return on equity of 242.57%. The firm had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $82.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that McKesson will post 32.07 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.69%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other McKesson news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.92, for a total transaction of $2,180,192.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 86,092 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,012,564.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 11,259 shares of company stock worth $6,635,492. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of McKesson by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,362,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,342,190,000 after buying an additional 46,659 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of McKesson by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 1,997,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $925,017,000 after buying an additional 62,242 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of McKesson by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,297,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $757,862,000 after buying an additional 36,583 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the 1st quarter worth $669,326,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of McKesson by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,183,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $635,763,000 after buying an additional 47,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

About McKesson

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.