Principal Securities Inc. Has $2.79 Million Stock Position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Principal Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,889 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc.'s holdings in McKesson were worth $2,786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of McKesson by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company's stock worth $796,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter worth $1,635,000. Hickory Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter worth $241,000. ABC Arbitrage SA purchased a new position in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at $1,262,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 1,182 shares of the company's stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction of $5,382,514.26. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 69,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,820,952.50. This trade represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm's 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 directly owns 864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,890.56. The trade was a 40.12 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 10,307 shares of company stock valued at $6,177,790. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of McKesson from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of McKesson from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $645.79.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of MCK stock traded down $5.83 during trading on Friday, hitting $597.68. 671,026 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 745,545. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $589.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $562.38. McKesson Co. has a twelve month low of $464.42 and a twelve month high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) last posted 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

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

McKesson 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.