Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Has $6.34 Million Stock Position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 19.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 28,183 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,612 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Cencora were worth $6,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COR. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new position in Cencora during the first quarter worth $2,183,619,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at about $1,199,695,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the 1st quarter worth about $1,001,269,000. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora in the 1st quarter valued at about $650,424,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. bought a new stake in Cencora in the 1st quarter valued at about $556,245,000. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Cencora Stock Up 0.3 %

Cencora stock opened at $248.42 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $48.95 billion, a PE ratio of 33.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.44. Cencora, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $191.11 and a fifty-two week high of $251.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $231.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $230.84.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.21 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $79.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $77.68 billion. Cencora had a return on equity of 266.60% and a net margin of 0.65%. Research analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 13.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.89%. This is a boost from Cencora’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Cencora’s payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COR has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price target on Cencora from $263.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $245.00 price target (down previously from $275.00) on shares of Cencora in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 21,509 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.80, for a total transaction of $5,071,822.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 285,088 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,223,750.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 15.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.