Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Bank of Nova Scotia

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its holdings in Centene Corporation by 18.4%, selling 41,271 shares during the first quarter, with current holdings valued at approximately $11.09 million.
• Centene's stock recently traded at $25.90 after a decline, with a 52-week range between $25.11 and $80.59, and it has a market capitalization of $12.72 billion.
• Analysts have downgraded Centene's price targets, with Barclays lowering theirs from $65.00 to $45.00, and UBS cutting theirs from $45.00 to $31.00, while the consensus target price is now $42.20.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 182,631 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,271 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Centene were worth $11,088,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Centene by 8.8% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC increased its position in Centene by 2.8% during the first quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Centene by 6.0% in the first quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,387 shares of the company's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,216 shares of the company's stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.20.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded down $0.70 on Wednesday, reaching $25.20. 17,446,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,350,060. 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 company's 50-day moving average price is $42.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.37 billion, a PE ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.11 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%. The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.