Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Reduces Stock Position in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lessened its stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,427 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,113 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Cencora were worth $7,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COR. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Cencora during the 2nd quarter worth $5,154,136,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cencora by 160.1% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,700,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,262,956,000 after purchasing an additional 4,123,795 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the second quarter valued at about $1,056,625,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Cencora during the fourth quarter worth about $822,506,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Cencora during the second quarter worth about $483,772,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on COR. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Cencora from $331.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Cencora from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Cencora from $342.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Cencora from $412.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Thirteen equities research 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $370.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lauren M. Tyler bought 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was bought at an average cost 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. The trade was a 14.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth S. Campbell sold 11,300 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $324.12, for a total value of $3,662,556.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 19,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,305,754.60. This represents a 36.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of COR stock opened at $336.98 on Thursday. Cencora, Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.82 and a 1-year high of $377.54. The firm has a market cap of $64.30 billion, a PE ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day moving average of $310.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $309.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.13. Cencora had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 125.45%. The firm had revenue of $84.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th were given a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 14th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 17.83%.

Cencora announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.