Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 18.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 21,523 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cencora were worth $6,727,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Cencora by 4.1% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,395,547 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,311,810,000 after buying an additional 916,506 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Cencora by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,787,609 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,429,772,000 after acquiring an additional 284,229 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Cencora by 21.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,677,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,461,965,000 after acquiring an additional 821,098 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Cencora in the 2nd quarter valued at $695,215,000. Finally, Viking Global Investors LP lifted its stake in shares of Cencora by 95.0% during the 2nd quarter. Viking Global Investors LP now owns 2,081,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $624,207,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,913 shares during the period. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cencora Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:COR opened at $372.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $352.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $334.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.82, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.68. Cencora, Inc. has a 1 year low of $248.59 and a 1 year high of $377.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.62, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported $4.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.04 by $0.04. Cencora had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 176.54%. The firm had revenue of $85.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $86.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.73 earnings per share. Cencora’s revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is 28.85%.

Insider Activity at Cencora

In other news, EVP Elizabeth S. Campbell sold 3,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $342.10, for a total value of $1,146,377.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,891 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,173,111.10. This represents a 12.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 5,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.73, for a total value of $1,807,704.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 66,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,669,713.98. The trade was a 7.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,220 shares of company stock worth $5,282,867. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird set a $415.00 price objective on Cencora in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Cencora from $417.00 to $419.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Evercore cut their price objective on shares of Cencora from $440.00 to $420.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Cencora from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Cencora from $400.00 to $425.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cencora presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $399.00.

Cencora Company Profile

Cencora (NYSE:COR) is a global healthcare services and pharmaceutical distribution company that provides end-to-end solutions across the pharmaceutical supply chain. The company’s core activities include wholesale drug distribution, specialty drug distribution, and the operation of specialty pharmacies, complemented by logistics, cold-chain management and other fulfillment services designed to support complex and temperature-sensitive therapies.

Beyond physical distribution, Cencora offers a range of commercial and patient-focused services for pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers.