Cencora (NYSE:COR) Trading Up 3.5% – Should You Buy?

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)’s stock price shot up 3.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $289.74 and last traded at $289.39. 1,629,436 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 1,586,762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $279.51.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Cencora Trading Up 3.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.12 billion, a PE ratio of 41.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $255.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.06.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 5,000 shares of Cencora 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 approximately $3,724,197.76. This trade represents a 24.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,578 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.51, for a total value of $3,928,916.78. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 317,913 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $85,680,732.63. This trade represents a 4.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 30,675 shares of company stock worth $8,034,778. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cencora

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in COR. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in shares of Cencora by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,983 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,610,000 after buying an additional 2,329 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Cencora by 19.5% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 895 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Cencora in the fourth quarter worth $716,000. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cencora during the fourth quarter worth $348,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cencora by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 2,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cencora Company 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.