Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Sold by Wellington Management Group LLP

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP has decreased its holdings in Centene Corporation by 36.0%, selling 5,526,746 shares during the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors have recently increased their positions in Centene, indicating ongoing interest despite recent volatility in stock performance.
• Centene's latest earnings report showed a miss on earnings per share, reporting ($0.16) compared to a consensus estimate of $0.23, although its revenue climbed 22.4% year-over-year to $48.74 billion.

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 36.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,807,993 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,526,746 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 1.97% of Centene worth $595,443,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Centene by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock worth $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 16,108 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,546 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter worth about $1,458,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company's stock worth $43,026,000 after purchasing an additional 163,462 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in Centene by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 925,150 shares of the company's stock worth $56,046,000 after purchasing an additional 270,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the company'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 purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the company'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 purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. This 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 Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $28.99 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $51.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $14.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $80.59.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

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.

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