McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Stake Lowered by Becker Capital Management Inc.

Becker Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 867 shares during the period. McKesson comprises approximately 1.6% of Becker Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Becker Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of McKesson worth $48,355,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 222,496 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted 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 valued at $1,513,195,000 after purchasing an additional 10,015 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in McKesson by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,704,000 after buying an additional 114,396 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in McKesson during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,200,361,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,532,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,218,000 after buying an additional 126,940 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price objective on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $642.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of McKesson from $708.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.00.

McKesson Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of McKesson stock opened at $707.68 on Wednesday. McKesson Co. has a 1-year low of $464.42 and a 1-year high of $728.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $665.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. McKesson’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total transaction of $114,602.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 69,625 shares in the company, valued at $41,820,952.50. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,110 shares of company stock valued at $10,855,706 over the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.