McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) Short Interest Up 81.9% in May

Key Points

• Short interest in McKesson surged 81.9% in May, rising to 5.24 million shares as of May 29. That amounts to 4.4% of shares sold short, with a short-interest ratio of 3.3 days.
• Company insiders sold shares recently, including CEO Brian S. Tyler and EVP Michele Lau. Over the past three months, insiders sold 11,822 shares valued at about $8.99 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on McKesson, with 14 Buy ratings and 3 Hold ratings. Analysts’ consensus price target is $960.53, above the recent trading price around $777.49.

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 5,237,307 shares, an increase of 81.9% from the May 14th total of 2,879,151 shares. Currently, 4.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 1,583,536 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 4,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $763.00, for a total transaction of $3,760,827.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 22,845 shares in the company, valued at $17,430,735. The trade was a 17.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Michele Lau sold 3,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $761.09, for a total transaction of $2,701,869.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 3,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,259.23. This trade represents a 52.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 11,822 shares of company stock valued at $8,986,212. 0.08% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. GGM Financials LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the third quarter worth about $25,000. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Swiss RE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson during the third quarter worth about $33,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of McKesson in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $875.00 price target on shares of McKesson in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of McKesson from a "buy (b+)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of McKesson from $1,000.00 to $1,050.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $970.00 price objective on shares of McKesson in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, McKesson presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $960.53.

McKesson Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MCK traded down $6.56 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $777.49. The company had a trading volume of 336,903 shares, compared to its average volume of 893,193. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $798.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $846.19. McKesson has a twelve month low of $637.00 and a twelve month high of $999.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.31.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $11.69 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $11.56 by $0.13. McKesson had a net margin of 1.18% and a negative return on equity of 345.35%. The firm had revenue of $96.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $101.35 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $10.12 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. McKesson has set its FY 2027 guidance at 43.800-44.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that McKesson will post 44.28 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. McKesson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.53%.

About McKesson

McKesson Corporation NYSE: MCK is a global healthcare services and distribution company that supplies pharmaceuticals, medical-surgical products and health care technology solutions. Founded in 1833 and headquartered in Irving, Texas, McKesson operates across the drug distribution and healthcare services value chain, connecting manufacturers, pharmacies, hospitals and health systems to help manage the movement of medicines and clinical supplies.

The company's core activities include pharmaceutical wholesale distribution and logistics, specialty pharmacy services, and the provision of medical-surgical supplies to acute and non-acute care providers.

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