Private Trust Co. NA Increases Stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Private Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,142 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in McKesson were worth $1,221,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in McKesson by 2.9% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,943,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,175,000 after buying an additional 138,685 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 17.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,467,557,000 after buying an additional 438,423 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,653,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,306,873,000 after buying an additional 26,299 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in McKesson by 55.8% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,048,000 after buying an additional 425,875 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in McKesson by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,606,000 after buying an additional 162,688 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

NYSE:MCK opened at $640.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a one year low of $464.42 and a one year high of $641.70. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $594.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $564.09.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.44%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,051 shares in the company, valued at $640,679.09. The trade was a 15.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total value of $5,358,588.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 60,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,276,465.36. The trade was a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,268 shares of company stock worth $11,536,378. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MCK. Baird R W upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.79.

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.