Legal & General Group Plc Purchases New Stake in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,199,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,556,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Cencora by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. United Bank now owns 7,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in Cencora during the second quarter valued at approximately $595,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Cencora by 7.9% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 85,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,647,000 after purchasing an additional 6,244 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Cencora by 94.1% during the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its stake in Cencora by 26.0% during the second quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 73,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,025,000 after purchasing an additional 15,154 shares during the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COR. Evercore reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. William Blair assumed coverage on Cencora in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $370.00 target price on Cencora in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Cencora in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Cencora from $382.00 to $390.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.85.

Cencora Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of COR opened at $328.28 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.93. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $244.82 and a 52 week high of $377.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.39, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $304.37 and a 200-day moving average of $311.24.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $84.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.00 EPS. Cencora’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. Cencora’s payout ratio is 17.83%.

Cencora announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Cencora

In other news, EVP Elizabeth S. Campbell sold 11,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $324.12, for a total value of $3,662,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 19,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,305,754.60. This represents a 36.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Lauren M. Tyler acquired 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $270.23 per share, with a total value of $148,626.50. Following the acquisition, the director owned 4,359 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,932.57. The trade was a 14.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

About Cencora

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.