McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 284,648 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,515 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.22% of McKesson worth $162,224,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MCK. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in McKesson by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 20,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,542,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its position in McKesson by 2.0% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 156,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,516,000 after buying an additional 3,020 shares during the period. West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in McKesson by 867.7% during the fourth quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after buying an additional 2,690 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in McKesson during the fourth quarter worth about $3,018,000. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC grew its position in McKesson by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 13,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,878,000 after buying an additional 1,047 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.79.

Insider Transactions at McKesson

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total transaction of $331,645.41. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders sold 1,346 shares of company stock valued at $795,275 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK stock opened at $593.82 on Tuesday. McKesson Co. has a one year low of $464.42 and a one year high of $637.51. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $587.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.52.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s payout ratio is currently 13.00%.

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.