Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,356 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,400 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Cencora were worth $80,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Cencora in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Cencora in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 134.3% in the fourth quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 82 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In other Cencora news, Director Lauren M. Tyler bought 550 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.23 per share, with a total value of $148,626.50. Following the completion of 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 this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Stock Up 3.8%

COR stock opened at $307.80 on Friday. Cencora, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $244.82 and a fifty-two week high of $377.54. The business’s 50-day moving average is $279.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $317.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $59.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Cencora announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Cencora Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Cencora from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Cencora from $410.00 to $412.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Cencora from $405.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $342.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a report on Friday, May 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Cencora has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.75.

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.