221,106 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Purchased by Empowered Funds LLC

Key Points

• Empowered Funds LLC purchased 221,106 Centene shares worth approximately $14.2 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors collectively own 93.63% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a mixed outlook, with one Strong Buy, eight Buy, nine Hold and two Sell ratings; Centene’s consensus rating is Hold with a $70.05 price target.
• Centene reported quarterly earnings of $2.51 per share, well above the $1.09 estimate, while revenue rose 9.9% year over year to $53.58 billion. The stock opened at $64.91, near its 52-week high of $69.36.

Empowered Funds LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 221,106 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,193,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Centene during the second quarter worth $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company's stock worth $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company's stock worth $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Centene by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company's stock valued at $370,456,000 after purchasing an additional 603,585 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Centene in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Centene from $46.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Down 0.6%

CNC opened at $64.91 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.22, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.24 and a fifty-two week high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $47.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation NYSE: CNC is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene's offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.

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