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

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

MCK has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of McKesson from $670.00 to $630.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $596.00 to $616.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of McKesson from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $613.36.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCK opened at $479.05 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $554.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.20. McKesson has a 1 year low of $431.35 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The company has a market capitalization of $62.12 billion, a PE ratio of 21.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.21 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.53 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.94% and a negative return on equity of 242.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect 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 issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. This is a positive change from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.69%.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.03, for a total value of $2,349,490.59. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 82,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $51,546,684.17. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 11,259 shares of company stock valued at $6,635,492. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in McKesson during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in McKesson during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC boosted its stake in McKesson by 42.9% during the fourth quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 80 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Finally, ICA Group Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in McKesson during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.