Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 101,284 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Cencora were worth $22,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COR. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in Cencora by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,394,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,863,000 after purchasing an additional 31,104 shares in the last quarter. United Bank raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,648,000. Commerce Bank raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 22,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,066,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trustmark National Bank Trust Department raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 5,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cencora Stock Performance

Shares of Cencora stock opened at $266.91 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $250.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.06. The company has a market capitalization of $51.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.77 and a 52 week high of $271.08.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.23. Cencora had a return on equity of 328.62% and a net margin of 0.46%. As a group, analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Cencora’s payout ratio is 31.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Cencora from $251.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, March 14th. Mizuho initiated coverage on Cencora in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Cencora from $289.00 to $301.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.20.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In other news, CAO Lazarus Krikorian sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.06, for a total transaction of $520,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,241,249.24. This represents a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.24, for a total value of $1,211,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $3,724,197.76. The trade was a 24.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,970 shares of company stock valued at $2,998,670. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.