AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Boosts Stake in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc boosted its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 1,042.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 434 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 396 shares during the quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s holdings in McKesson were worth $292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MCK. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 13,824 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,047 shares during the last quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB raised its stake in McKesson by 12.8% during the 4th quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB now owns 5,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,305,000 after buying an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC purchased a new stake in McKesson during the 4th quarter valued at $274,000. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in McKesson by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 22,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,768,000 after acquiring an additional 2,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC increased its holdings in McKesson by 25.5% during the fourth quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 81,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,290,000 after buying an additional 16,502 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MCK. Wall Street Zen upgraded McKesson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Cfra Research lowered shares of McKesson from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of McKesson from $642.00 to $745.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $755.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $630.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $692.46.

Insider Transactions at McKesson

In related news, CFO Britt J. Vitalone sold 6,336 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.30, for a total transaction of $4,544,812.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 14,760 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,587,348. This represents a 30.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas L. Rodgers sold 2,891 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.18, for a total transaction of $2,058,912.38. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 2,544 shares in the company, valued at $1,811,785.92. The trade was a 53.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 13,747 shares of company stock worth $9,852,587 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of MCK stock opened at $715.33 on Wednesday. McKesson Co. has a 12-month low of $464.42 and a 12-month high of $731.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $697.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $639.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.53.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $10.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $9.83 by $0.29. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. The business had revenue of $90.82 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.18 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.99%.

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.