23,100 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Acquired by Polianta Ltd

Key Points

• Polianta Ltd acquired 23,100 shares of Centene Corporation, valued at approximately $1,253,000, in the second quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Invesco Ltd and AQR Capital Management LLC, have recently increased their positions in Centene, indicating strong institutional interest.
• Analysts have cut Centene's target prices significantly, with current consensus ratings leaning towards a "Hold," and a consensus price target of $38.33.

Polianta Ltd purchased a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 23,100 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,253,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,091,964 shares of the company's stock worth $673,393,000 after buying an additional 536,508 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company's stock worth $669,820,000 after buying an additional 3,306,796 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company's stock worth $292,045,000 after buying an additional 143,573 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Centene by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,433,451 shares of the company's stock worth $269,134,000 after buying an additional 28,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management lifted its position in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,055,764 shares of the company's stock worth $246,225,000 after buying an additional 776,331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, July 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased at an average price 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 $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% 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, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% 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 0.6%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $31.99 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $15.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.92, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $77.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $28.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.36.

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

Centene Company 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.

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