Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) saw a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,880,000 shares, a decrease of 23.6% from the January 31st total of 9,010,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In other Cencora news, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 1,678 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.72, for a total value of $383,792.16. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 20,329 shares in the company, valued at $4,649,648.88. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 4,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $1,267,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 51,070 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,022,850. The trade was a 8.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,648 shares of company stock worth $2,862,342 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its position in shares of Cencora by 944.6% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 19,972 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,645,000 after acquiring an additional 18,060 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the 4th quarter worth about $38,652,000. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Cencora by 34.5% in the 4th quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 10,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,450,000 after buying an additional 2,800 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Cencora by 61.6% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,106,000 after buying an additional 3,574 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armis Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Cencora during the 4th quarter worth approximately $307,000. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cencora Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Cencora stock traded down $0.91 during trading on Thursday, hitting $250.62. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 124,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,472,089. The stock has a market cap of $48.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.49. Cencora has a 52 week low of $214.77 and a 52 week high of $262.26. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $243.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.54.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.50 by $0.23. Cencora had a return on equity of 328.62% and a net margin of 0.46%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Cencora will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 yield of 0.88%. Cencora’s payout ratio is currently 31.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COR has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Cencora from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Cencora from $289.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Barclays increased their price objective on Cencora from $263.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Cencora in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cencora presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.90.

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.