HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Sells 84 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lessened its position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,745 shares of the company’s stock after selling 84 shares during the period. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in McKesson were worth $2,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCK. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in McKesson by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,620,948 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,493,704,000 after purchasing an additional 114,396 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of McKesson by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $769,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 46.6% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 855,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $487,462,000 after acquiring an additional 272,068 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in McKesson by 289.6% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,874 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,477,000 after acquiring an additional 11,056 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in McKesson by 18.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,179 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 target price for the company. Bank of America cut their price objective on McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $649.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $331,645.41. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This represents a 40.12 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 60,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,276,465.36. This represents a 12.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 18,689 shares of company stock valued at $11,187,351. 0.11% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of MCK stock opened at $673.44 on Tuesday. McKesson Co. has a 12 month low of $464.42 and a 12 month high of $678.67. The stock has a market cap of $84.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $625.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $580.97.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.00%.

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.