McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen cut shares of McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Cfra Research cut shares of McKesson from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of McKesson from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of McKesson from $755.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $766.00 price target on shares of McKesson and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $708.00 to $805.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $694.38.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of McKesson stock traded down $3.65 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $727.15. The company had a trading volume of 518,101 shares, compared to its average volume of 920,038. The company's 50-day moving average is $703.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $644.37. McKesson has a twelve month low of $464.42 and a twelve month high of $732.99. The company has a market cap of $90.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.49.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.83 by $0.29. McKesson had a net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. The business had revenue of $90.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.18 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that McKesson will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. McKesson's dividend payout ratio is presently 10.99%.

Insider Activity

In other McKesson news, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 543 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $726.51, for a total transaction of $394,494.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 1,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,677.72. This trade represents a 21.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Thomas L. Rodgers sold 510 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.91, for a total transaction of $366,134.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 5,435 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,901,840.85. This trade represents a 8.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 33,117 shares of company stock worth $23,526,451 in the last 90 days. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,847,385 shares of the company's stock worth $1,622,754,000 after purchasing an additional 222,496 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,663,303 shares of the company's stock worth $1,513,195,000 after purchasing an additional 10,015 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company's stock worth $1,493,704,000 after purchasing an additional 114,396 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 75,632.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,393,152 shares of the company's stock worth $1,610,567,000 after purchasing an additional 2,389,992 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter worth about $1,200,361,000. 85.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.