Westpac Banking Corp Invests $4.86 Million in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 17,177 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,861,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new position in Cencora in the second quarter valued at $518,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cencora during the second quarter worth about $785,000. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new position in shares of Cencora in the 2nd quarter worth about $8,247,000. Ieq Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the 2nd quarter valued at about $285,000. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the 2nd quarter valued at about $13,661,000. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COR has been the topic of a number of research reports. William Blair started coverage on Cencora in a report on Tuesday, April 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Cencora in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $330.00 price target on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Cencora in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cencora from $382.00 to $390.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cencora

In other news, Director Lauren M. Tyler bought 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director owned 4,359 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,177,932.57. This trade represents a 14.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Cencora stock opened at $317.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.93. Cencora, Inc. has a 52-week low of $244.82 and a 52-week high of $377.54. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $302.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $311.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 0.57.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $84.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $84.31 billion. Cencora had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 125.45%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.00 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.60 per share. This represents a $2.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is 17.83%.

Cencora announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Cencora Profile

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.