Perpetual Ltd Raises Position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Perpetual Ltd grew its position in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,937 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in McKesson were worth $1,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 1,020.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 806,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,937,000 after purchasing an additional 734,849 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,467,557,000 after acquiring an additional 438,423 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in McKesson by 55.8% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,048,000 after acquiring an additional 425,875 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in McKesson by 126.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 574,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $283,903,000 after acquiring an additional 321,119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in McKesson by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,606,000 after purchasing an additional 162,688 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,890.56. The trade was a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

MCK stock opened at $584.44 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $594.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $561.06. The company has a market cap of $74.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $464.42 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a net margin of 0.77% and a negative return on equity of 207.50%. The company had revenue of $93.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.23 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MCK. Robert W. Baird raised McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on McKesson from $560.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America cut their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.14.

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.