Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 163,817 Cencora, Inc. $COR

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group acquired 163,817 Cencora shares worth approximately $46.4 million, while institutional investors collectively own 97.52% of the company.
• Cencora’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with earnings of $4.48 per share and revenue of $84.75 billion, up 5.1% year over year. The company also authorized a $2 billion stock buyback and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.60 per share.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $370.85, compared with the stock’s recent price of $321.31.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 163,817 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,357,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.09% of Cencora as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the 2nd quarter valued at about $5,154,136,000. State Street Corp increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 115,191 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $2,262,956,000 after buying an additional 4,123,795 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Cencora by 3.2% during 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 buying an additional 169,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Cencora by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,982,557 shares of the company's stock worth $1,682,859,000 after buying an additional 304,760 shares during the period. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Lauren M. Tyler purchased 550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $270.23 per share, with a total value of $148,626.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,359 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,177,932.57. The trade was a 14.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth S. Campbell sold 11,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,305,754.60. This represents a 36.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.38% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COR has been the topic of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Cencora from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $412.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Cencora from $382.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Cencora from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Thirteen 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, Cencora currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $370.85.

Cencora Stock Performance

NYSE:COR opened at $321.31 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $306.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $310.80. 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 has a market cap of $61.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, 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 results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.13. Cencora had a return on equity of 125.45% and a net margin of 0.79%.The business had revenue of $84.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $84.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.00 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Cencora's payout ratio is 17.83%.

Cencora 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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