Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. Has $5.50 Billion Stock Holdings in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. reduced its position in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,418,171 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,859,390 shares during the period. Cencora accounts for about 93.3% of Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. owned approximately 12.24% of Cencora worth $5,501,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new position in Cencora in the 4th quarter worth about $4,212,508,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in Cencora during the 1st quarter valued at $2,183,619,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in Cencora during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,199,695,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,001,269,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors bought a new stake in shares of Cencora during the 1st quarter valued at about $650,424,000. Institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Price Performance

Cencora stock opened at $228.36 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $234.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $233.04. The firm has a market cap of $45.55 billion, a PE ratio of 24.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a quick ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93. Cencora, Inc. has a 52-week low of $178.21 and a 52-week high of $247.66.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.16. Cencora had a return on equity of 266.60% and a net margin of 0.65%. The company had revenue of $74.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.92 EPS. Cencora’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 13.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Cencora’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Cencora from $287.00 to $283.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Cencora in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Cencora currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $256.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cencora

In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 4,438,171 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.56, for a total transaction of $1,067,646,415.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,980,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,388,800. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,755 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $222.12, for a total transaction of $2,388,900.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,323,746.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 4,438,171 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.56, for a total value of $1,067,646,415.76. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,980,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,806,388,800. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,450,399 shares of company stock worth $1,070,392,799 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

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.