Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Sold by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

Key Points

• BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 8.5% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.14% of the company valued at $42.4 million.
• Multiple large investors have increased their stakes in Centene, with Boston Partners growing its position by 155.3%, now holding shares valued at $236.8 million.
• Wall Street analysts have downgraded Centene's stock ratings and price targets significantly, with 14 hold ratings and a consensus target price of $42.20.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. cut its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 698,962 shares of the company's stock after selling 65,310 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned about 0.14% of Centene worth $42,433,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its position in Centene by 8.8% during the 1st 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 period. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC lifted its position in Centene by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Centene by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Centene by 6.1% during 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 period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Centene by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 97,346 shares of the company's stock worth $5,910,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Centene from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.20.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC traded up $0.5170 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.3270. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,874,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,741,445. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 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 current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company's 50-day moving average is $35.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.03.

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