Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. Boosts Stake in McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK)

Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) by 18.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,033 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,659 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $15,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,847,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,622,754,000 after buying an additional 222,496 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in McKesson by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,663,303 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,513,195,000 after buying an additional 10,015 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,704,000 after buying an additional 114,396 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in McKesson by 75,632.7% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,393,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,610,567,000 after buying an additional 2,389,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in McKesson in the 4th quarter worth $1,200,361,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MCK. Wall Street Zen lowered McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on McKesson from $708.00 to $805.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Cfra Research lowered McKesson from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on McKesson from $745.00 to $770.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on McKesson from $755.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.42.

McKesson Stock Performance

McKesson stock opened at $721.58 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $709.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $649.70. McKesson Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $464.42 and a fifty-two week high of $733.10. The company has a market capitalization of $90.28 billion, a PE ratio of 27.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.49.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.83 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $90.82 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $94 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.92% and a negative return on equity of 201.12%. McKesson’s revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.18 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that McKesson Corporation will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. McKesson’s payout ratio is 10.99%.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In other McKesson news, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 543 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.51, for a total value of $394,494.93. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,432,677.72. The trade was a 21.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Britt J. Vitalone sold 6,336 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.30, for a total transaction of $4,544,812.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,760 shares in the company, valued at $10,587,348. This represents a 30.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 33,117 shares of company stock valued at $23,526,451 over the last ninety days. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.