Northern Trust Corp Raises Position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,532,203 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 126,940 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 1.21% of McKesson worth $873,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bellwether Advisors LLC purchased a new position in McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $101,000. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Quarry LP now owns 692 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter worth $5,827,000. Berger Financial Group Inc lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 7.3% during the 4th quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc now owns 591 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prosperity Consulting Group LLC lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Prosperity Consulting Group LLC now owns 478 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MCK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $641.00 to $691.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Cfra Research cut shares of McKesson from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Three equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $668.50.

McKesson Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of McKesson stock opened at $699.78 on Tuesday. McKesson Co. has a 52-week low of $464.42 and a 52-week high of $728.32. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $663.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.22. The firm has a market cap of $87.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. Equities research analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total transaction of $114,602.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,679.09. The trade was a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction of $5,382,514.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 69,625 shares in the company, valued at $41,820,952.50. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 18,110 shares of company stock valued at $10,855,706. Corporate insiders own 0.11% 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.