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

McKesson Co. (NYSE:MCK) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, January 30th, RTT News reports. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd.

McKesson has raised its dividend by an average of 14.3% annually 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% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect McKesson to earn $36.64 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 7.8%.

McKesson Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MCK opened at $640.82 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $594.13 and a 200-day moving average of $564.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.31 billion, a PE ratio of 29.34, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.52. McKesson has a 12 month low of $464.42 and a 12 month high of $641.70.

McKesson (NYSE:MCK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $8.03 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, research analysts predict that McKesson will post 32.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of McKesson from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of McKesson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target 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. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, McKesson currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $645.79.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brian S. Tyler sold 8,961 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.66, for a total transaction of $5,382,514.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 69,625 shares in the company, valued at $41,820,952.50. The trade was a 11.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Leann B. Smith sold 188 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.59, for a total value of $114,602.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 1,051 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,679.09. This represents a 15.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 19,268 shares of company stock worth $11,536,378. Company 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.