First Trust Advisors LP Boosts Stock Position in Cencora, Inc. $COR

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 653,744 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Cencora were worth $205,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its stake in shares of Cencora by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 12,511 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,930,000 after purchasing an additional 496 shares during the last quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions boosted its holdings in shares of Cencora by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. ABN Amro Investment Solutions now owns 9,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Oslo Pensjonsforsikring AS bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Andra AP fonden increased its position in shares of Cencora by 17.2% during the 1st quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 37,980 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,931,000 after purchasing an additional 5,580 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cencora during the 1st quarter valued at $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Cencora from $405.00 to $355.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Cencora from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Cencora from $425.00 to $350.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Cencora in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $342.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cencora currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $367.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Lauren M. Tyler acquired 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $270.23 per share, for a total transaction of $148,626.50. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,177,932.57. This represents a 14.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.38% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Cencora Stock Performance

Shares of Cencora stock opened at $300.90 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $282.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.76. The company has a market capitalization of $58.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.40. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $244.82 and a 52 week high of $377.54.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported $4.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by ($0.07). Cencora had a return on equity of 135.20% and a net margin of 0.78%.The business had revenue of $78.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $81.09 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.42 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Cencora has set its FY 2026 guidance at 17.650-17.900 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were paid a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.40%.

Cencora declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Cencora

Cencora (NYSE:COR) is a global healthcare services and pharmaceutical distribution company that provides end-to-end solutions across the pharmaceutical supply chain. The company’s core activities include wholesale drug distribution, specialty drug distribution, and the operation of specialty pharmacies, complemented by logistics, cold-chain management and other fulfillment services designed to support complex and temperature-sensitive therapies.

Beyond physical distribution, Cencora offers a range of commercial and patient-focused services for pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers.