Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Sells 1,819,735 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Centene stake by 21.2% in the first quarter, selling 1,819,735 shares and leaving it with 6,769,765 shares valued at about $221.6 million.
• Analysts have recently raised price targets on Centene, though the stock’s overall consensus rating remains Hold with a $64.61 average price target.
• Centene beat quarterly expectations, reporting $3.37 EPS versus $2.23 expected and revenue of $49.94 billion, up 7.1% year over year.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 21.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,769,765 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,819,735 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 1.37% of Centene worth $221,642,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Centene by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. Bayban acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reissued a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Zacks Research lowered Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $64.61.

Centene Trading Down 0.6%

CNC opened at $63.35 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $69.36. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $63.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.69.

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

Centene Company 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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