Eastern Bank Sells 137 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Eastern Bank lowered its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 26.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 384 shares of the company’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in McKesson were worth $219,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 3,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,281,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 140.3% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in McKesson by 5.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in McKesson by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 395,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,821,000 after purchasing an additional 21,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, One Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in McKesson during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,055,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total transaction of $331,645.41. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares in the company, valued at $494,890.56. This 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. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reduced 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 reduced 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $646.14.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MCK opened at $594.11 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $595.09 and its 200 day moving average is $560.90. The company has a market capitalization of $75.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $464.42 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.88 by $0.19. The business had revenue of $93.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.77% and a negative return on equity of 207.50%. The company’s revenue was up 21.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.23 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.71 per share. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 14.71%.

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.