Valmark Advisers Inc. Trims Stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Valmark Advisers Inc. cut its position in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 816 shares of the company’s stock after selling 104 shares during the period. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. WD Rutherford LLC grew its stake in shares of McKesson by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. WD Rutherford LLC now owns 5,713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,256,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC boosted its holdings in McKesson by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 5,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,107,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in McKesson by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in McKesson by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 4,889 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,786,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares during the period. Finally, Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of McKesson by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $796,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Baird R W raised shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lowered their price target 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 raised their price objective on McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Mizuho initiated coverage on McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total transaction of $331,645.41. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 864 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,346 shares of company stock valued at $795,275. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Stock Performance

MCK stock opened at $593.82 on Tuesday. McKesson Co. has a one year low of $464.42 and a one year high of $637.51. The firm has a market cap of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.19, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $587.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.38.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. 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.