Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Acquired by Cambiar Investors LLC

Key Points

• Cambiar Investors LLC increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 13.9%, owning 768,990 shares valued at approximately $46.7 million, making it the 17th largest position in its portfolio.
• Recent analyst reports have downgraded Centene's stock price targets significantly, with a consensus price target of $42.20, indicating a cautious outlook from the market.
• Centene Corporation reported a net loss of ($0.16) earnings per share for the last quarter, missing analysts’ estimates, despite a revenue increase of 22.4% year-over-year.

Cambiar Investors LLC increased its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 13.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 768,990 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 93,628 shares during the quarter. Centene makes up about 2.0% of Cambiar Investors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Cambiar Investors LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Centene worth $46,685,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 203.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Finally, Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC increased its stake in Centene by 273.8% during the first quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 927 shares of the company's stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $65.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Bank of America lowered shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.20.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,840. The trade was 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. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the firm's 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 acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE CNC traded up $0.3150 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.3050. 16,720,832 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 20,815,892. The stock has a market cap of $14.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $36.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.43.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.