Cencora (NYSE:COR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Hold

StockNews.com lowered shares of Cencora (NYSE:COR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday.

COR has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Cencora in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Cencora from $263.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Cencora from $237.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $277.90.

Cencora Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of COR stock opened at $253.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $49.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.49. Cencora has a 1-year low of $214.77 and a 1-year high of $262.26. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.09.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.23. Cencora had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 328.62%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Cencora will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is 31.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Cencora news, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.24, for a total transaction of $1,211,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $3,724,197.76. This trade represents a 24.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 4,970 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $1,267,350.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,022,850. This trade represents a 8.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,648 shares of company stock worth $2,862,342. Insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cencora

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hickory Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Cencora in the fourth quarter worth $572,000. Sylvest Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora in the fourth quarter valued at $1,105,000. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Cencora by 124.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 20,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,549,000 after purchasing an additional 11,232 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Cencora by 10.1% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 39,457 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,881,000 after purchasing an additional 3,610 shares during the period. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in Cencora by 46.9% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 6,245 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

About Cencora

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.