McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) Position Lessened by TCW Group Inc.

TCW Group Inc. decreased its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 144,286 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,893 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $82,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on MCK. Citigroup lowered their target price on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com cut McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho began coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 target price on the stock. Baird R W upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.79.

McKesson Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MCK opened at $597.68 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.37, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $589.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $562.01. McKesson Co. has a 52-week low of $464.42 and a 52-week high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. As a group, analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total value of $331,645.41. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total value of $5,382,514.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 10,307 shares of company stock worth $6,177,790 in the last three months. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.