Empowered Funds LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Empowered Funds LLC lowered its stake in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,509 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in McKesson were worth $17,802,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 742.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 59 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of McKesson in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at McKesson

In related news, 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 transaction of $331,645.41. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This represents a 40.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.11% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

McKesson Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of McKesson stock opened at $595.77 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $588.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $562.90. The company has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson Co. has a 1 year low of $464.42 and a 1 year high of $637.51.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $8.60 by ($0.57). McKesson had a net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. As a group, research analysts forecast that McKesson Co. will post 32.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given 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 yield of 0.48%. McKesson’s payout ratio is presently 13.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MCK. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. StockNews.com raised shares of McKesson from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised shares of McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $531.00 to $688.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $645.79.

McKesson 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.