Empirical Asset Management LLC Makes New Investment in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Empirical Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 34,009 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,382,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,943,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,444,175,000 after purchasing an additional 138,685 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 17.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,968,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,467,557,000 after purchasing an additional 438,423 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,653,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,306,873,000 after purchasing an additional 26,299 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,297,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $757,862,000 after purchasing an additional 36,583 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of McKesson by 55.8% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 1,189,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $588,048,000 after purchasing an additional 425,875 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

McKesson Stock Up 1.9 %

McKesson stock opened at $594.62 on Friday. McKesson Co. has a 52-week low of $464.42 and a 52-week high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $595.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $561.06.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.88 by $0.19. McKesson had a net margin of 0.77% and a negative return on equity of 207.50%. The firm had revenue of $93.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.23 earnings per share. McKesson’s quarterly revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 32.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 2nd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio is currently 14.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MCK shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of McKesson from $623.00 to $579.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective 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. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of McKesson from $665.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.14.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related 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 value of $331,645.41. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

McKesson Company 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.