Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. Grows Stake in AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC)

Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. boosted its position in shares of AmerisourceBergen Co. (NYSE:ABC – Get Rating) by 31.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,420 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 4,690 shares during the period. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd.’s holdings in AmerisourceBergen were worth $3,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,220,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,601,062,000 after buying an additional 292,173 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,990,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $946,020,000 after buying an additional 165,682 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 10.2% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,664,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $801,436,000 after buying an additional 523,003 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 11.4% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 5,041,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $684,631,000 after buying an additional 514,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in AmerisourceBergen by 42.3% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,079,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $321,717,000 after buying an additional 618,248 shares during the last quarter. 84.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ABC shares. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on AmerisourceBergen from $175.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 22nd. TheStreet lowered AmerisourceBergen from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a research note on Monday, March 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on AmerisourceBergen in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Argus raised their price objective on AmerisourceBergen from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on AmerisourceBergen from $162.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, AmerisourceBergen currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $180.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Lazarus Krikorian sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $375,374.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,984.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CAO Lazarus Krikorian sold 2,218 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $169.24, for a total value of $375,374.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 20,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,385,984.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Steven H. Collis sold 10,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.28, for a total transaction of $1,724,775.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 257,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,378,818.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 30,851 shares of company stock valued at $4,865,455. 20.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AmerisourceBergen Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ABC traded down $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $152.02. 2,946,209 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,205,231. The firm has a market cap of $30.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.45, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.54. AmerisourceBergen Co. has a 12-month low of $135.14 and a 12-month high of $174.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 63.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $158.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $156.06.

AmerisourceBergen (NYSE:ABC – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The company reported $2.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.62 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $62.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.77 billion. AmerisourceBergen had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 597.57%. The business’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that AmerisourceBergen Co. will post 11.61 earnings per share for the current year.

AmerisourceBergen Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.485 per share. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 9th. AmerisourceBergen’s dividend payout ratio is currently 23.54%.

AmerisourceBergen Profile

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AmerisourceBergen Corp. engages in the provision of pharmaceutical products and business solutions that improve access to care. It operates through the Pharmaceutical Distribution Services and Other segments. The Pharmaceutical Distribution Services segment distributes an offering of brand-name, specialty brand-name and generic pharmaceuticals, over-the-counter healthcare products, home healthcare supplies and equipment, and related services to healthcare providers, including acute care hospitals and health systems, independent and chain retail pharmacies, mail order pharmacies, medical clinics, and long-term care and alternate site pharmacies.