371,613 Shares in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) Acquired by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 371,613 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $90,298,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at $4,212,508,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at $1,199,695,000. Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at $650,424,000. Bessemer Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at $556,245,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter valued at $291,825,000. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,755 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 285,088 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,323,746.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gina Clark sold 1,874 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $223.86, for a total transaction of $419,513.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 13,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,973,756.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,755 shares of the company’s 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 owns 285,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $63,323,746.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,899,112 shares of company stock valued at $408,654,376. Company insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. SVB Leerink restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Cencora in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $238.78.

Cencora Price Performance

COR traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $227.62. 1,310,278 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,095,994. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41. Cencora, Inc. has a one year low of $171.65 and a one year high of $246.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $230.60.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The company reported $3.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $68.41 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $70.60 billion. Cencora had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 268.67%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 13.46 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.32%.

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.