Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. Purchases 5,059 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK - Free Report) by 357.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,476 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,059 shares during the quarter. Desjardins Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in McKesson were worth $2,998,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MCK. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in shares of McKesson by 72.3% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 81 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of McKesson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of McKesson in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of McKesson in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MCK has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of McKesson from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $450.00 to $505.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of McKesson in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $537.00 price objective on the stock. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of McKesson in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $522.00 to $548.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $533.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total transaction of $92,256.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,511 shares in the company, valued at $749,456. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 186 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.00, for a total transaction of $92,256.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,511 shares of the company's stock, valued at $749,456. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 3,473 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $524.55, for a total transaction of $1,821,762.15. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,789,074.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MCK traded up $5.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $528.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 362,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 692,253. McKesson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $352.34 and a fifty-two week high of $543.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.45. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $523.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.19.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The company reported $7.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $7.05 by $0.69. The business had revenue of $80.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $77.93 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.99% and a negative return on equity of 262.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 27.59 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. McKesson's payout ratio is 11.24%.

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.