Analysts Set McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) Price Target at $718.73

Shares of McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have issued a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $719.2727.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on MCK shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $772.00 target price on McKesson and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on McKesson from $760.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $810.00 target price (up from $770.00) on shares of McKesson in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of McKesson in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on McKesson from $755.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of McKesson stock opened at $672.86 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $709.57 and a 200-day moving average of $681.59. The company has a market capitalization of $83.69 billion, a PE ratio of 26.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.50. McKesson has a 1-year low of $464.42 and a 1-year high of $737.89.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $8.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.33 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $97.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $95.93 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.84% and a negative return on equity of 196.66%. The firm’s revenue was up 23.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that McKesson will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.71. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. McKesson’s payout ratio is presently 11.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, CFO Britt J. Vitalone sold 6,336 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.30, for a total value of $4,544,812.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 14,760 shares in the company, valued at $10,587,348. The trade was a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Rodgers sold 2,891 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.18, for a total value of $2,058,912.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 2,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,811,785.92. The trade was a 53.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,817 shares of company stock valued at $37,461,210 over the last 90 days. 0.08% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On McKesson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 18.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after buying an additional 1,413 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 19.9% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 20,734 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,817,000 after buying an additional 3,447 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 67,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,218,000 after buying an additional 2,294 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.