Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Buys Shares of 1,408,949 Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec acquired 1.41 million Centene shares in the second quarter, worth approximately $90.4 million, giving it a 0.29% stake. Institutional investors collectively own 93.63% of the company.
• Centene reported a strong quarterly performance, with earnings per share of $2.51 versus the $1.09 consensus and revenue of $53.58 billion, up 9.9% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the consensus rating is “Hold” with a $70.05 price target, despite several firms raising targets and issuing buy or strong-buy recommendations.

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,408,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $90,440,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.29% of Centene as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth $257,279,000. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at about $5,222,000. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth about $1,659,000. Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth about $4,531,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,134,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,957,937.44. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted 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. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $70.05.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $65.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.24 and a 12 month high of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $32.28 billion, a PE ratio of -6.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.98.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current 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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