StockNews.com Lowers Cencora (NYSE:COR) to Buy

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cencora (NYSE:COR) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday.

COR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America reissued a neutral rating and issued a $245.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Cencora in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Leerink Partners reissued an outperform rating and set a $275.00 target price on shares of Cencora in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Cencora from $280.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Cencora from $287.00 to $283.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $256.67.

Cencora Price Performance

Shares of COR opened at $228.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $45.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.44. Cencora has a twelve month low of $178.21 and a twelve month high of $247.66. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.04.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.18 by $0.16. Cencora had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 266.60%. The firm had revenue of $74.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $73.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.92 earnings per share. Cencora’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Cencora will post 13.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Cencora’s payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 4,438,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.56, for a total value of $1,067,646,415.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,980,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,388,800. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 4,438,171 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.56, for a total value of $1,067,646,415.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,980,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,388,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,755 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total value of $2,388,900.60. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,088 shares in the company, valued at $63,323,746.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,450,399 shares of company stock worth $1,070,392,799. Company insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in COR. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at about $244,000. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new position in shares of Cencora in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Wahed Invest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the 4th quarter worth approximately $567,000. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in Cencora during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,212,508,000. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Cencora during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,307,000. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cencora

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.