Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Purchases New Holdings in Cencora, Inc. $COR

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 47,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,477,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Cencora in the second quarter valued at $4,861,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in Cencora during the second quarter worth $518,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cencora during the second quarter worth $785,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new stake in Cencora during the second quarter worth $8,247,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC bought a new stake in Cencora during the second quarter worth $285,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Lauren M. Tyler purchased 550 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 22nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $270.23 per share, for a total transaction of $148,626.50. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 4,359 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,177,932.57. This trade represents a 14.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.38% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Stock Performance

Shares of COR stock opened at $317.89 on Monday. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $244.82 and a 52 week high of $377.54. The company has a market capitalization of $60.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.62, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $311.52. 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 (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported $4.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.35 by $0.13. Cencora had a net margin of 0.79% and a return on equity of 125.45%. The firm had revenue of $84.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.31 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $4.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 17.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Cencora announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $2.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Cencora Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Cencora from $342.00 to $346.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $350.00 target price on shares of Cencora in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Cencora from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Cencora from $280.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $370.85.

About Cencora

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.