Sapient Capital LLC Acquires New Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Sapient Capital LLC acquired 9,083 shares of Centene Corporation worth approximately $493,000 as part of their new position disclosed in a recent SEC filing.
• Insider transactions included Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchasing 9,000 shares at $27.62 each, and CEO Sarah London acquiring 19,230 shares at $25.50 each, increasing their positions by 39.13% and 2.33% respectively.
• Centene's quarterly revenue rose by 22.4% year-over-year to $48.74 billion, though the company reported a loss of ($0.16) EPS, missing analysts' expectations significantly.

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 9,083 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $493,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Centene by 31.9% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 752,249 shares of the company's stock worth $45,573,000 after acquiring an additional 182,022 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its holdings in Centene by 132.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 6,707 shares of the company's stock valued at $406,000 after buying an additional 3,820 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 61,932 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,752,000 after buying an additional 19,815 shares during the last quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd increased its holdings in Centene by 94.9% in the fourth quarter. iSAM Funds UK Ltd now owns 5,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,825,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.77. The stock had a trading volume of 21,226,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,909,675. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $76.08. The stock has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.44. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $28.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. 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 year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.33.

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.