McKesson (NYSE:MCK) Sets New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

McKesson Corporation (NYSE:MCK)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $846.43 and last traded at $844.5740, with a volume of 554937 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $820.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MCK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on McKesson from $772.00 to $816.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $1,000.00 price objective on shares of McKesson in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on McKesson from $775.00 to $856.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on McKesson from $920.00 to $980.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, McKesson currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $880.15.

McKesson Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $754.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $722.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $106.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $9.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.84 by $1.02. McKesson had a negative return on equity of 196.66% and a net margin of 0.84%.The firm had revenue of $103.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.80 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that McKesson Corporation will post 32.77 earnings per share for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 10.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CAO Napoleon B. Rutledge, Jr. sold 329 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $663.67, for a total value of $218,347.43. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,031.19. This trade represents a 33.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 11,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $705.63, for a total value of $8,418,165.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 4,012 shares in the company, valued at $2,830,987.56. This trade represents a 74.83% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 24,189 shares of company stock worth $16,722,190 in the last quarter. 0.08% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On McKesson

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased 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 worth $1,438,000 after buying an additional 798 shares during the period. Burling Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of McKesson in the first quarter worth about $202,000. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of McKesson by 5.9% in the first quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after buying an additional 99 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McKesson by 4.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 282,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $190,351,000 after buying an additional 10,877 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of McKesson by 16.7% in the first quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 153 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

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.