Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 105 Shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,959 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in McKesson were worth $1,687,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MCK. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of McKesson by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 20,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,542,000 after buying an additional 1,207 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in McKesson by 2.0% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 156,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. West Oak Capital LLC grew its position in shares of McKesson by 867.7% in the 4th quarter. West Oak Capital LLC now owns 3,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 2,690 shares during the period. Brentview Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of McKesson during the 4th quarter worth about $3,018,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of McKesson by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 975,935 shares of the company’s stock valued at $558,606,000 after purchasing an additional 162,688 shares during the period. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other McKesson news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $602.81, for a total transaction of $349,026.99. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 1,443 shares in the company, valued at $869,854.83. This represents a 28.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.11% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

McKesson Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of McKesson stock opened at $610.57 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $588.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $562.60. McKesson Co. has a twelve month low of $464.42 and a twelve month high of $637.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.52.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 0.82% and a negative return on equity of 181.26%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that McKesson Co. will post 32.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

McKesson Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MCK. Citigroup reduced their price target on McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho began coverage on McKesson in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised McKesson from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $531.00 to $688.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of McKesson from $535.00 to $641.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $645.79.

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.