Lazard Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 371,613 Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 371,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,298,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Cencora at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cencora in the 4th quarter worth about $4,212,508,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at about $1,199,695,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at about $650,424,000. Bessemer Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at about $556,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at about $291,825,000. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COR. SVB Leerink reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their target price on Cencora from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $238.78.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In other news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 1,859,390 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.12, for a total value of $399,991,976.80. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 24,418,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,252,836,945.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Cencora news, Director Dermot Mark Durcan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 24th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $218.58 per share, with a total value of $109,290.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,781,656.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 1,859,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.12, for a total value of $399,991,976.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,418,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,252,836,945.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,899,112 shares of company stock worth $408,654,376. Company insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Stock Performance

Shares of COR traded up $0.51 on Friday, reaching $227.62. 1,310,278 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,095,994. The company has a current ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41. The stock has a market cap of $45.40 billion, a PE ratio of 24.90, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $230.60. Cencora, Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.65 and a 52-week high of $246.75.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $3.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.65 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $68.41 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.60 billion. Cencora had a return on equity of 268.67% and a net margin of 0.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 13.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

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.