California State Teachers Retirement System Acquires 74,241,125 Shares of Cencora, Inc. $COR

Key Points

• California State Teachers Retirement System increased its Cencora stake by 74.24 million shares in the second quarter, holding 74.52 million shares worth approximately $21.09 billion, or 39.05% of the company.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish: 13 rate Cencora a Buy and three a Hold, producing a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $370.85.
• Cencora exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $4.48 in EPS and $84.75 billion in revenue; the company also maintains a $2 billion share-repurchase authorization and pays a $0.60 quarterly dividend.

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) by 26,305.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,523,349 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 74,241,125 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 39.05% of Cencora worth $21,088,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cencora in the 2nd quarter worth $5,154,136,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Cencora by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,305,507 shares of the company's stock worth $3,142,935,000 after acquiring an additional 115,191 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Cencora by 160.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,700,091 shares of the company's stock worth $2,262,956,000 after acquiring an additional 4,123,795 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Cencora by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,459,476 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,843,268,000 after acquiring an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Cencora by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,982,557 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,682,859,000 after acquiring an additional 304,760 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COR has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Cencora from $412.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cencora from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Cencora in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cencora from $382.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Cencora from $331.00 to $395.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $370.85.

Cencora Price Performance

COR opened at $330.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $313.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $309.32. The firm has a market cap of $63.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.56, a PEG ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57. Cencora, Inc. has a 1 year low of $244.82 and a 1 year high of $377.54.

Cencora (NYSE:COR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $84.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.31 billion. Cencora had a return on equity of 125.45% and a net margin of 0.79%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Cencora's dividend payout ratio is presently 17.83%.

Cencora announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lauren M. Tyler acquired 550 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $270.23 per share, with a total value of $148,626.50. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,359 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,932.57. This trade represents a 14.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth Campbell sold 11,300 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.12, for a total transaction of $3,662,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,305,754.60. The trade was a 36.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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