Cencora Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:COR)

Cencora, Inc. (NYSE:COR) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 2,882 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 145% compared to the average volume of 1,178 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Cencora from $280.00 to $287.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Cencora from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Cencora from $277.00 to $275.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. StockNews.com lowered Cencora from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $245.00 price objective (down from $275.00) on shares of Cencora in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $259.44.

Cencora Price Performance

COR stock opened at $236.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.93, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.89, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $232.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $231.15. Cencora has a 52-week low of $182.75 and a 52-week high of $247.66.

Cencora (NYSE:COR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The company reported $3.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.18 by $0.16. Cencora had a return on equity of 266.60% and a net margin of 0.65%. The business had revenue of $74.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.32 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.92 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Cencora will post 13.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cencora Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. Cencora’s payout ratio is 22.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Cencora

In other news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 4,438,171 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.56, for a total value of $1,067,646,415.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,980,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,806,388,800. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, major shareholder Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. sold 4,438,171 shares of Cencora stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.56, for a total value of $1,067,646,415.76. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 19,980,000 shares in the company, valued at $4,806,388,800. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Silvana Battaglia sold 1,473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $242.69, for a total value of $357,482.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,948 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,656,970.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 15.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cencora

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cencora in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Cencora during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. TCTC Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cencora in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. TFO Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cencora during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Cencora during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 97.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.