Hickory Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,548 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $572,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COR. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Cencora by 6,855.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,065,374 shares of the company's stock valued at $464,874,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035,679 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Cencora by 7.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,193,386 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,168,927,000 after purchasing an additional 338,452 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Cencora by 40.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,077,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $243,173,000 after purchasing an additional 308,773 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Cencora by 21.7% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,638,400 shares of the company's stock worth $368,771,000 after purchasing an additional 292,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Cencora by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,045,896 shares of the company's stock worth $1,810,970,000 after purchasing an additional 291,867 shares during the period. 97.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In other Cencora news, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 1,678 shares of Cencora 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 20,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,649,648.88. This trade represents a 7.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.97, for a total transaction of $12,198,500.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 326,557 shares in the company, valued at $79,670,111.29. This represents a 13.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 10.80% of the company's stock.

Cencora Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COR traded up $3.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $245.37. 1,558,569 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,511,237. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $239.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.42. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.77 and a 52-week high of $262.26. The company has a market cap of $47.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.49.

Cencora (NYSE:COR - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.50 by $0.23. Cencora had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 328.62%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Cencora's payout ratio is 31.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COR. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cencora from $287.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on Cencora from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Mizuho began coverage on shares of Cencora in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $277.90.

Cencora Company Profile

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.