Short Interest in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) Declines By 8.0%

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,300,000 shares, a decline of 8.0% from the June 30th total of 9,020,000 shares. Currently, 4.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 5.5 days.

Cencora Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of Cencora stock traded up $6.56 on Thursday, hitting $244.44. 2,025,700 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,378,580. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $227.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $230.89. Cencora has a 12-month low of $171.65 and a 12-month high of $246.75. The company has a market cap of $48.75 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.41.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.16. Cencora had a net margin of 0.67% and a return on equity of 268.67%. The firm had revenue of $74.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $73.32 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.92 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Cencora will post 13.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, August 26th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th will be given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.32%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COR. StockNews.com lowered shares of Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. SVB Leerink reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $275.00 price target on shares of Cencora in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Cencora from $285.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Cencora from $265.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Cencora currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $243.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Cencora news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 1,859,390 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.12, for a total value of $399,991,976.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,418,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,252,836,945.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 1,859,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.12, for a total transaction of $399,991,976.80. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,418,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,252,836,945.52. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gina Clark sold 27,093 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $216.07, for a total value of $5,853,984.51. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,158 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,189.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,899,112 shares of company stock valued at $408,654,376. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Cencora

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new position in Cencora in the fourth quarter valued at $4,212,508,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the 1st quarter valued at $2,183,619,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at about $1,199,695,000. Boston Partners purchased a new position in shares of Cencora during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,001,269,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth $650,424,000. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.