Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Sells 6,163 Shares of Cencora, Inc. $COR

Key Points

• Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC has reduced its stake in Cencora, Inc. by 4.8%, selling 6,163 shares and now owning approximately 121,554 shares valued at $33.8 million.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Cencora, with UBS Group setting a new target at $335.00 and Wells Fargo at $354.00, with an overall consensus price target of $311.25.
• Cencora is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.55 on September 3rd, reflecting an annualized yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 22.63%.

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 121,554 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,163 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned about 0.06% of Cencora worth $33,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Cencora by 2.1% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,543,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $429,107,000 after acquiring an additional 32,141 shares during the period. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Cencora by 3.6% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 2,496 shares of the company's stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Cencora by 9.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 353,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,619,000 after acquiring an additional 31,964 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Cencora by 9.3% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,513 shares of the company's stock valued at $977,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the period. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at $207,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Cencora news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,579 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.62, for a total transaction of $4,266,106.98. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 311,913 shares in the company, valued at $91,271,982.06. This represents a 4.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 4,968 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $294.11, for a total transaction of $1,461,138.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,351 shares in the company, valued at $12,455,852.61. This represents a 10.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,125 shares of company stock worth $9,993,789. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Cencora and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $298.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $337.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $311.25.

Cencora Stock Up 3.0%

Cencora stock traded up $8.9650 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $303.6750. 644,183 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,556,640. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.90. Cencora, Inc. has a 12 month low of $218.65 and a 12 month high of $309.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $293.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $279.66. The company has a market cap of $58.88 billion, a PE ratio of 31.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58.

Cencora (NYSE:COR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.21. Cencora had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 267.36%. The company had revenue of $80.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $80.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.34 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Cencora's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.63%.

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.