1832 Asset Management L.P. Boosts Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 62%, owning 36,204 shares valued at approximately $2.20 million after acquiring additional shares in the first quarter.
• Several investment analysts have reduced their price targets for Centene, with UBS Group and JPMorgan cutting theirs from $45.00 and $48.00 to $31.00 and $30.00, respectively, all maintaining a "neutral" rating.
• Centene's recent earnings report revealed a loss of ($0.16) earnings per share, missing expectations, despite a revenue increase of 22.4% year-over-year, totaling $48.74 billion.

1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 62.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,204 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,854 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P.'s holdings in Centene were worth $2,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Centene by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock worth $2,732,000 after buying an additional 16,108 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth about $1,458,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company's stock worth $43,026,000 after buying an additional 163,462 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 925,150 shares of the company's stock worth $56,046,000 after buying an additional 270,899 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.65 on Friday, reaching $29.03. 8,344,263 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,072,034. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59. The company has a 50 day moving average of $32.24 and a 200 day moving average of $49.67. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 EPS. The company's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children's health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.