Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Buys 1,239 Shares of Cencora, Inc. $COR

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in Cencora, Inc. by 107.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 1,239 shares, bringing its total holdings to 2,394 shares valued at approximately $666,000.
• Multiple research firms have upgraded Cencora's stock, with Wells Fargo raising its price target from $337.00 to $354.00, reflecting growing confidence among analysts, as the stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insiders at Cencora have been actively selling shares, including Chairman Steven H. Collis and CEO Robert P. Mauch, indicating a combined sale of over 34,000 shares valued at nearly $10 million in the past three months.

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) by 107.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,394 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co's holdings in Cencora were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 106.7% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 93 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora during the first quarter worth $28,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Cencora in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Cencora in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. bought a new position in Cencora in the first quarter valued at $39,000. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COR. Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Cencora and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Cencora from $337.00 to $354.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Cencora presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $311.25.

Cencora Stock Performance

Shares of COR traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $302.83. The stock had a trading volume of 1,189,360 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,317,955. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $293.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $286.00. Cencora, Inc. has a one year low of $218.65 and a one year high of $309.35. The firm has a market cap of $58.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64.

Cencora (NYSE:COR - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $4.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $80.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were given a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. Cencora's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.63%.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In related news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 42,351 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,455,852.61. The trade was a 10.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,579 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $292.62, for a total transaction of $4,266,106.98. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 311,913 shares of the company's stock, valued at $91,271,982.06. The trade was a 4.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,125 shares of company stock valued at $9,993,789. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

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.