Bessemer Group Inc. Trims Stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Bessemer Group Inc. lowered its position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,167,805 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,980 shares during the period. Cencora makes up approximately 1.1% of Bessemer Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Cencora were worth $602,846,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Cencora during the 4th quarter valued at $478,309,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Cencora by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,193,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,166,944,000 after purchasing an additional 1,994,256 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cencora during the fourth quarter worth $399,508,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cencora by 43,561.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,598,461 shares of the company’s stock valued at $444,516,000 after purchasing an additional 1,594,800 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cencora in the fourth quarter worth about $322,460,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cencora from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Cencora from $298.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Cencora from $314.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $288.00 price target on Cencora in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Cencora from $330.00 to $355.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cencora currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $306.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 14,579 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $281.81, for a total value of $4,108,507.99. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 315,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $89,027,442.53. This represents a 4.41% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Robert P. Mauch sold 4,969 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.33, for a total transaction of $1,437,680.77. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 47,582 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,766,900.06. The trade was a 9.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Cencora Trading Up 0.4%

NYSE COR opened at $294.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $57.02 billion, a PE ratio of 34.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.58. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $218.65 and a 52 week high of $309.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $289.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.98.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported $4.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.07 by $0.35. Cencora had a return on equity of 344.71% and a net margin of 0.55%. The firm had revenue of $75.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $75.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.80 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were paid a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. Cencora’s payout ratio is 25.52%.

Cencora 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.