ARGA Investment Management LP Trims Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• ARGA Investment Management LP cut its Centene stake by 20.2% in the first quarter, selling 121,725 shares and leaving it with 479,954 shares worth about $15.7 million.
• Centene’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $3.37 per share on revenue of $49.94 billion, both above analyst estimates, while quarterly revenue rose 7.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains cautious overall: analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating on CNC, with a consensus price target of $62.50, even as some firms recently raised targets or upgraded the stock.

ARGA Investment Management LP trimmed its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 20.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 479,954 shares of the company's stock after selling 121,725 shares during the quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP owned about 0.10% of Centene worth $15,714,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company's stock worth $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its position in 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 buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $186,662,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Centene by 52.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,171,568 shares of the company's stock valued at $295,111,000 after purchasing an additional 2,472,341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on CNC. Mizuho set a $63.00 target price on Centene and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price objective on Centene in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.50.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $67.33 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $61.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.91. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $69.29.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.Centene's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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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