Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $402,000 in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Plato Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,656 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $402,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COR. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Cencora in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Legacy Bridge LLC acquired a new stake in Cencora during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. TCTC Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth $29,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth $30,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co bought a new stake in Cencora in the first quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Stock Performance

NYSE:COR traded up $2.17 on Friday, reaching $246.63. 2,291,859 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,846. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41, a current ratio of 0.89 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $49.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.45. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $171.65 and a 52 week high of $247.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $228.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $230.99.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $74.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.32 billion. Cencora had a net margin of 0.65% and a return on equity of 271.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.92 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 13.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 9th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.32%.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 1,859,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 24,418,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,252,836,945.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Cencora news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 1,859,390 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 24,418,171 shares in the company, valued at $5,252,836,945.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dermot Mark Durcan purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $218.58 per share, with a total value of $109,290.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,876 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,781,656.08. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,899,112 shares of company stock worth $408,654,376. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COR has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. SVB Leerink reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 price objective on shares of Cencora in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Cencora from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Cencora from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $243.00.

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.