Cencora (NYSE:COR) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $264.36 and last traded at $260.93, with a volume of 579259 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $260.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Cencora from $289.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of Cencora in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $280.20.

Cencora Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $249.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $239.67. The stock has a market cap of $51.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.51.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Cencora’s payout ratio is presently 31.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cencora

In other Cencora news, CAO Lazarus Krikorian sold 2,000 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,154 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,241,249.24. This trade represents a 9.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 5,000 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.24, for a total value of $1,211,200.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,724,197.76. The trade was a 24.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 13,648 shares of company stock valued at $3,382,462. 10.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 63.0% in the fourth quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Kentucky Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC grew its position in shares of Cencora by 85.2% during the 4th quarter. Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC now owns 150 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 69 shares during the period. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.