HighTower Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

HighTower Advisors LLC reduced its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK - Free Report) by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,975 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,230 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in McKesson were worth $16,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,943,520 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,444,175,000 after acquiring an additional 138,685 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 17.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,467,557,000 after acquiring an additional 438,423 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in McKesson by 2.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,297,620 shares of the company's stock worth $757,862,000 after buying an additional 36,583 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in McKesson by 55.8% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company's stock worth $588,048,000 after buying an additional 425,875 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in McKesson by 7.9% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 857,611 shares of the company's stock worth $500,879,000 after buying an additional 62,875 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK stock traded down $3.99 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $603.53. The company had a trading volume of 730,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 826,811. McKesson Co. has a twelve month low of $431.35 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The company has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.49. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $554.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $561.88.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 207.50% and a net margin of 0.77%. The business had revenue of $93.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.23 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. McKesson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their target price on McKesson from $630.00 to $713.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded McKesson from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho initiated coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $630.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their target price on McKesson from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $635.86.

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.