Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases 12,625 Shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Cencora, Inc. by 134.7% during the first quarter, owning 22,000 shares valued at approximately $6.1 million as of its latest SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors have also boosted their holdings in Cencora, with 97.52% of the stock currently owned by these investors.
• Analysts have given Cencora a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a target price averaging $309.83, reflecting positive growth expectations.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) by 134.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,625 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Cencora were worth $6,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the company's stock valued at $838,000 after purchasing an additional 152 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 23.6% during the 1st quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 937 shares of the company's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 8,210 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,283,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC raised its holdings in Cencora by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 2,503 shares of the company's stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Cencora by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the company's stock worth $707,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,578 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.67, for a total transaction of $4,266,543.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 309,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $90,702,237.71. This trade represents a 4.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 4,968 shares of Cencora 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 42,351 shares of the company's stock, 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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on COR. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Cencora from $314.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Cencora from $298.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Cencora from $270.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Cencora and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Cencora from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $309.83.

Cencora Price Performance

Shares of Cencora stock traded down $8.15 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $284.20. 1,605,664 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,567,668. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $292.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.01. Cencora, Inc. has a twelve month low of $218.65 and a twelve month high of $309.35. The company has a market cap of $55.08 billion, a PE ratio of 32.89, a PEG ratio of 1.45 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.79 by $0.21. Cencora had a net margin of 0.55% and a return on equity of 344.71%. The business had revenue of $80.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.34 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. Cencora's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.52%.

Cencora Company Profile

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.