Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Takes $518,000 Position in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new position in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,831 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COR. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in Cencora in the 4th quarter worth about $16,487,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,170,000. SEB Asset Management AB bought a new stake in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,139,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in shares of Cencora during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,145,000. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in shares of Cencora by 31.0% during the second quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 105,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,887,000 after buying an additional 24,968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Trading Up 1.0%

Cencora stock opened at $317.89 on Friday. Cencora, Inc. has a 12-month low of $244.82 and a 12-month high of $377.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.53, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.66 billion, a PE ratio of 23.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.89.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $84.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $84.31 billion. Cencora had a return on equity of 125.45% and a net margin of 0.79%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.00 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

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 $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. Cencora’s payout ratio is currently 17.83%.

Insider Activity at Cencora

In other news, Director Lauren M. Tyler acquired 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $270.23 per share, for a total transaction of $148,626.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,359 shares in the company, valued at $1,177,932.57. This represents a 14.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COR. Bank of America increased their price objective on Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada assumed coverage on Cencora in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $330.00 target price on the stock. William Blair initiated coverage on Cencora in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Cencora from $331.00 to $395.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $370.85.

Cencora Company 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.