Brokerages Set McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Price Target at $610.86

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $610.86.

MCK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $590.00 to $670.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of McKesson from $656.00 to $661.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Baird R W lowered shares of McKesson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of McKesson from $660.00 to $630.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $540.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,753 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.10, for a total transaction of $2,105,808.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 78,586 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,094,604.60. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of McKesson

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in McKesson in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Register Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in McKesson in the first quarter valued at $29,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in McKesson in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in McKesson in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company's stock.

McKesson Price Performance

NYSE MCK traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $505.59. 645,552 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 808,514. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $528.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $552.97. McKesson has a 1 year low of $431.35 and a 1 year high of $637.51. The company has a market cap of $65.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.44.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $7.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $7.21 by $0.67. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 242.57% and a net margin of 0.94%. The company had revenue of $79.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $82.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.27 earnings per share. McKesson's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that McKesson will post 32.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This is a boost from McKesson's previous quarterly dividend of $0.62. McKesson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.69%.

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.