Leerink Partnrs Has Negative Outlook of Cencora Q4 Earnings

Key Points

• Analysts at Leerink Partnrs have lowered their Q4 2025 earnings estimate for Cencora to $3.80 per share, down slightly from their previous estimate of $3.81.
• Despite the negative outlook, several brokerages like Wells Fargo and Jefferies Financial Group have updated their target prices on Cencora shares, indicating a generally favorable sentiment with ratings ranging from "Buy" to "Hold."
• Cencora recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.55 per share, representing a 0.7% yield, alongside insider selling by executives, which could raise concerns among investors.

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) - Analysts at Leerink Partnrs reduced their Q4 2025 earnings estimates for Cencora in a research note issued to investors on Monday, October 6th. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Cherny now expects that the company will earn $3.80 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $3.81. The consensus estimate for Cencora's current full-year earnings is $15.37 per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Cencora's Q1 2026 earnings at $4.09 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $4.98 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $4.34 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $4.17 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $19.43 EPS, FY2028 earnings at $21.36 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $23.60 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on COR. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cencora from $337.00 to $354.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 13th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Cencora in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $330.00 target price on shares of Cencora and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cencora has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $314.55.

Cencora Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of COR opened at $305.32 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.64. The firm's 50-day moving average is $295.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $290.68. Cencora has a twelve month low of $218.65 and a twelve month high of $315.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.63.

Cencora (NYSE:COR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported $4.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 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 posted $3.34 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 31,350 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.86, for a total transaction of $9,087,111.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 305,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $88,671,942.18. This trade represents a 9.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 5,097 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $290.00, for a total transaction of $1,478,130.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 39,274 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,389,460. This trade represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,993 shares of company stock worth $16,292,923. 10.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cencora

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the 1st quarter valued at $3,111,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cencora by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its holdings in shares of Cencora by 25.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 5,715 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,589,000 after purchasing an additional 1,171 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the 2nd quarter valued at $262,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Cencora by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 12,586 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,500,000 after purchasing an additional 3,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.