Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Has $3.88 Million Stock Holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System cut its holdings in McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,800 shares of the company’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in McKesson were worth $3,875,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC boosted its holdings in McKesson by 742.9% in the third quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 59 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in McKesson in the third quarter worth $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in McKesson in the third quarter worth $31,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in McKesson in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in McKesson in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 85.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MCK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of McKesson from $713.00 to $677.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $650.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of McKesson in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $630.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of McKesson from $612.00 to $642.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $645.79.

McKesson Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE:MCK opened at $595.24 on Thursday. McKesson Co. has a 12-month low of $464.42 and a 12-month high of $637.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.56 billion, a PE ratio of 27.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $587.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $562.68.

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

McKesson Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.71 dividend. This represents a $2.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. McKesson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.00%.

Insider Transactions at McKesson

In other news, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 579 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 864 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $494,890.56. This trade represents a 40.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

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.