Lazard Asset Management LLC Makes New $47.27 Million Investment in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 150,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,267,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Cencora by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,617,117 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,976,681,000 after purchasing an additional 221,570 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Cencora by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 9,305,507 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,142,935,000 after buying an additional 115,191 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Cencora by 160.1% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,700,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,262,956,000 after buying an additional 4,123,795 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Cencora by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,459,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,843,268,000 after buying an additional 169,055 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Cencora by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,982,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,682,859,000 after acquiring an additional 304,760 shares during the period. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COR shares. Evercore set a $360.00 target price on shares of Cencora in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Cencora from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Cencora from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Cencora from $429.00 to $331.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cencora presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $367.75.

Insider Activity at Cencora

In other Cencora news, Director Lauren M. Tyler acquired 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 approximately $1,177,932.57. This represents a 14.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Cencora stock opened at $311.42 on Tuesday. Cencora, Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.82 and a 52-week high of $377.54. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $285.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $4.75 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.82 by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $78.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.09 billion. Cencora had a net margin of 0.78% and a return on equity of 135.20%. Cencora’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.42 earnings per share. Cencora has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.650-17.900 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.79 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 15th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.40%.

Cencora announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cencora Profile

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.