Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 10,037 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 59.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,884 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,037 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $15,322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiera Capital Corp grew its position in shares of McKesson by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 847 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the third quarter worth $416,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 6,884 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,403,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of McKesson by 85.7% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,285 shares of the company’s stock worth $636,000 after purchasing an additional 593 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on MCK shares. StockNews.com cut McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.79.

McKesson Stock Up 2.4 %

McKesson stock opened at $659.53 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $602.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $568.25. The firm has a market cap of $82.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a 52 week low of $464.42 and a 52 week high of $663.62.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a negative return on equity of 181.26% and a net margin of 0.82%. Equities analysts expect that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.71 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.43%. McKesson’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of McKesson stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total value of $5,382,514.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 69,625 shares in the company, valued at $41,820,952.50. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 18,689 shares of company stock worth $11,187,351. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.