Synovus Financial Corp Increases Stock Position in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Cencora, Inc. by 6.7% in the first quarter, owning 18,841 shares valued at approximately $5.24 million.
• Insider trading activity included Chairman Steven H. Collis selling 14,579 shares worth over $4.26 million and CEO Robert P. Mauch selling 4,968 shares valued at around $1.46 million.
• Cencora recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, indicating a 0.8% dividend yield with a payout ratio of 22.63%.

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) by 6.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,841 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,183 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Cencora were worth $5,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,647,310 shares of the company's stock worth $2,682,821,000 after acquiring an additional 787,858 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,421,262 shares of the company's stock worth $1,507,599,000 after acquiring an additional 363,402 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,411,193 shares of the company's stock worth $1,505,984,000 after acquiring an additional 404,093 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,193,807 shares of the company's stock worth $1,166,944,000 after acquiring an additional 1,994,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 42.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,607,964 shares of the company's stock worth $1,281,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,364,433 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted 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. Citigroup boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Cencora from $314.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 price target on shares of Cencora and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $311.25.

Cencora Stock Performance

NYSE:COR traded up $1.62 on Friday, reaching $291.51. 1,123,252 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,410,850. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $56.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.58. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.65 and a 52 week high of $309.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $282.15.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.79 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $80.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $80.34 billion. Cencora had a net margin of 0.60% and a return on equity of 267.36%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. Cencora's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 22.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,579 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.62, for a total value of $4,266,106.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman directly owned 311,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,271,982.06. This trade represents a 4.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 4,968 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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. Insiders sold 34,125 shares of company stock valued at $9,993,789 over the last 90 days. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Cencora 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.