Short Interest in McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) Drops By 33.0%

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK) was the target of a significant drop in short interest during the month of August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 2,419,484 shares, a drop of 33.0% from the July 30th total of 3,613,111 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,116,036 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on MCK shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $925.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of McKesson from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of McKesson in a report on Friday, August 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $875.00 price objective on shares of McKesson in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on McKesson from $1,050.00 to $1,080.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $973.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 133 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $764.00, for a total transaction of $101,612.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $482,848. This trade represents a 17.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,463 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $793.56, for a total value of $6,715,898.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,697,081.64. The trade was a 58.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 22,289 shares of company stock worth $17,406,854. Corporate insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MCK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,523 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in McKesson during the first quarter worth approximately $233,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in McKesson by 77.9% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 685 shares of the company’s stock worth $502,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in McKesson by 0.9% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 58,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,958,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in McKesson during the 2nd quarter valued at $166,000. Institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Price Performance

Shares of MCK stock traded up $15.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $922.17. The stock had a trading volume of 125,024 shares, compared to its average volume of 947,238. McKesson has a twelve month low of $682.35 and a twelve month high of $999.00. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $838.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $842.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.52 billion, a PE ratio of 24.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.30.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $9.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.56 by $0.37. The firm had revenue of $105.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.88 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 1.12% and a negative return on equity of 253.21%. McKesson’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $8.26 EPS. McKesson has set its FY 2027 guidance at 44.200-45.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that McKesson will post 44.65 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is an increase from McKesson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.82. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.06%.

McKesson Company Profile

McKesson Corporation (NYSE: MCK) is a global healthcare services and distribution company that supplies pharmaceuticals, medical-surgical products and health care technology solutions. Founded in 1833 and headquartered in Irving, Texas, McKesson operates across the drug distribution and healthcare services value chain, connecting manufacturers, pharmacies, hospitals and health systems to help manage the movement of medicines and clinical supplies.

The company’s core activities include pharmaceutical wholesale distribution and logistics, specialty pharmacy services, and the provision of medical-surgical supplies to acute and non-acute care providers.