AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Purchases New Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs has made a new investment of approximately $1.29 million in Centene Corporation by purchasing 22,812 shares during the first quarter.
• Recent analyst reports have resulted in several price target adjustments for Centene, with notable reductions from $51.00 to $43.00 by Oppenheimer and $45.00 to $31.00 by UBS Group.
• Centene's recent earnings report revealed a loss of ($0.16) EPS, missing analysts’ estimates, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 22.4% to $48.74 billion.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 22,812 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,288,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 203.1% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Three investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.33.

Centene Trading Down 1.2%

Centene stock traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $31.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,226,090 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,909,675. 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 stock has a market cap of $15.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $47.00. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $76.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

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.