Korea Investment CORP Grows Stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 21.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 112,443 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 19,524 shares during the period. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in McKesson were worth $64,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of McKesson by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,653,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,306,873,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,096,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,501,000 after buying an additional 216,432 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 20.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $558,606,000 after buying an additional 162,688 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in shares of McKesson by 4.9% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 727,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $359,444,000 after buying an additional 34,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of McKesson by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 593,941 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,656,000 after acquiring an additional 50,147 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McKesson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MCK opened at $666.40 on Friday. McKesson Co. has a 1 year low of $464.42 and a 1 year high of $670.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $622.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $577.72. The company has a market capitalization of $83.52 billion, a PE ratio of 30.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (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 expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho started coverage on McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price target for the company. Bank of America decreased their target price on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, McKesson has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $649.36.

Insider Activity

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares in the company, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $597.99, for a total transaction of $5,358,588.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 60,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,276,465.36. This trade represents a 12.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 18,689 shares of company stock worth $11,187,351 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.