Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 211,076 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,945 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Cencora were worth $47,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. United Bank raised its position in Cencora by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,261,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in Cencora by 53.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 6,908 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Cencora by 4.9% in the third quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in Cencora in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $387,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its position in Cencora by 116.7% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 8,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,019,000 after purchasing an additional 4,831 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Elizabeth S. Campbell sold 4,127 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.28, for a total transaction of $1,107,191.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,934,326.20. This represents a 21.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Lazarus Krikorian sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.06, for a total transaction of $520,120.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,241,249.24. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 30,675 shares of company stock worth $8,034,778 over the last three months. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Cencora Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COR opened at $279.29 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40. The stock has a market cap of $54.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.73, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $242.65. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $214.77 and a 52 week high of $296.65.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were given a $0.55 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.79%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Cencora from $289.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $251.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $280.20.

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.