Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC Increases Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC lifted its position in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC’s holdings in McKesson were worth $1,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MCK. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of McKesson by 3.5% in the third quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,260,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in McKesson in the third quarter valued at about $258,000. Lecap Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in McKesson in the third quarter valued at about $1,583,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI lifted its position in McKesson by 50.0% in the third quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 627 shares of the company’s stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Courier Capital LLC lifted its position in McKesson by 10.3% in the third quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 1,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $532,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MCK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price 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. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of McKesson in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $645.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $572.79, for a total value of $331,645.41. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares in the company, valued at $494,890.56. This represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 10,307 shares of company stock worth $6,177,790. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

McKesson Stock Performance

MCK stock opened at $603.68 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $588.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $562.48. McKesson Co. has a fifty-two week low of $464.42 and a fifty-two week high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.64, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share 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 forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.71 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $2.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.47%. McKesson’s payout ratio is 13.00%.

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.