Howard Capital Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 31.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,400 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Cencora were worth $315,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Cencora by 6,855.3% during the third 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 338,452 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 308,773 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Cencora by 21.7% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,638,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,771,000 after acquiring an additional 292,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Cencora by 3.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,045,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,810,970,000 after acquiring an additional 291,867 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.24, for a total transaction of $1,211,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,374 shares in the company, valued at $3,724,197.76. The trade was a 24.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 10.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Cencora from $287.00 to $292.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho assumed coverage on Cencora in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $280.00 price objective on the stock. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Cencora from $270.00 to $280.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Cencora from $289.00 to $301.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Cencora from $263.00 to $290.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.90.

Cencora Price Performance

COR stock opened at $244.34 on Tuesday. Cencora, Inc. has a 52-week low of $214.77 and a 52-week high of $262.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 16.40. The company has a market capitalization of $47.38 billion, a PE ratio of 34.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $239.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $237.47.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $3.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Cencora, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $0.55 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.29%.

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.