Ascent Group LLC Increases Stock Position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Ascent Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,822 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Cencora were worth $1,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cencora by 63.0% in the 4th quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 119 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new position in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Kentucky Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Cencora in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position in shares of Cencora by 37.7% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 168 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cencora

In related news, EVP Elizabeth S. Campbell sold 4,127 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.28, for a total value of $1,107,191.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,665 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,934,326.20. This trade represents a 21.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,578 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.51, for a total transaction of $3,928,916.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 317,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $85,680,732.63. This trade represents a 4.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,223 shares of company stock worth $12,369,767. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COR shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Cencora from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cencora from $314.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cencora from $251.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Cencora from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $301.18.

Cencora Trading Up 1.0%

COR stock traded up $3.00 during trading on Friday, hitting $293.69. 291,708 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,535,074. The company has a 50-day moving average of $284.36 and a 200-day moving average of $258.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.92. Cencora, Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.32 and a 1 year high of $309.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.92 billion, a PE ratio of 41.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.60.

Cencora (NYSE:COR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.07 by $0.35. Cencora had a return on equity of 328.62% and a net margin of 0.46%. The firm had revenue of $75.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.80 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Cencora's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.52%.

About Cencora

Cencora, Inc sources and distributes pharmaceutical products. The company's U.S. Healthcare Solutions segment distributes pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, long-term care and alternate site pharmacies, and other customers; provides pharmacy management, staffing, and other consulting services; supply management software to retail and institutional healthcare providers; packaging solutions to various institutional and retail healthcare providers; clinical trial support, product post-approval, and commercialization support services; data analytics, outcomes research, and additional services for biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturers; pharmaceuticals, vaccines, parasiticides, diagnostics, micro feed ingredients, and other products to the companion animal and production animal markets; and sales force services to manufacturers.