MetLife Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,775 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 777 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Cencora were worth $11,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COR. Boston Partners purchased a new position in Cencora in the first quarter valued at about $1,001,269,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Cencora by 6,855.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,065,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $464,874,000 after buying an additional 2,035,679 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in shares of Cencora during the 1st quarter worth approximately $128,825,000. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in Cencora by 136.8% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 641,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,623,000 after acquiring an additional 370,841 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Cencora by 155.0% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 598,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,828,000 after acquiring an additional 363,796 shares in the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price target on Cencora from $263.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Cencora from $280.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Cencora from $287.00 to $292.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Cencora from $275.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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, August 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cencora has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.20.

Insider Transactions at Cencora

In related news, Chairman Steven H. Collis sold 21,509 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $242.16, for a total value of $5,208,619.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 306,752 shares in the company, valued at $74,283,064.32. The trade was a 6.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 93,018 shares of company stock valued at $22,478,942 in the last 90 days. 15.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Cencora Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COR opened at $249.70 on Thursday. Cencora, Inc. has a 52 week low of $195.83 and a 52 week high of $251.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $233.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $232.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.84. The firm has a market cap of $49.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.44.

Cencora Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.55 dividend. This is an increase from Cencora’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.51. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Cencora’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.29%.

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.