McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.71

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.71 per share on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%.

McKesson has raised its dividend payment by an average of 14.3% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 17 consecutive years. McKesson has a payout ratio of 6.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect McKesson to earn $36.65 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.84 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 7.7%.

McKesson Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MCK opened at $605.16 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $591.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $561.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.82 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson has a twelve month low of $464.42 and a twelve month high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $7.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.88 by $0.19. The firm had revenue of $93.65 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $89.33 billion. McKesson had a net margin of 0.77% and a negative return on equity of 207.50%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.23 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that McKesson will post 32.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on MCK shares. StockNews.com raised McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $680.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price target on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho started coverage on McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $646.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at McKesson

In other 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $494,890.56. This represents a 40.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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.