Centene Corporation $CNC Stake Reduced by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 10.8%, owning approximately 0.68% of the company valued at $204.25 million after selling 406,033 shares.
• CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of Centene stock at an average cost of $25.50 per share, marking a 2.33% increase in her ownership.
• Centene reported a quarterly loss of ($0.16) EPS, missing the consensus estimate by ($0.39), despite a 22.4% increase in year-over-year revenue.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lowered its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 10.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,364,393 shares of the company's stock after selling 406,033 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.68% of Centene worth $204,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Centene by 74.6% in the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 29,584 shares of the company's stock worth $1,776,000 after purchasing an additional 12,636 shares in the last quarter. Andina Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter worth about $419,000. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 51,013 shares of the company's stock worth $3,097,000 after purchasing an additional 2,574 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its stake in Centene by 217.1% in the 1st quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 514,028 shares of the company's stock worth $31,207,000 after purchasing an additional 351,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Korea Investment CORP increased its stake in Centene by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 352,897 shares of the company's stock worth $21,424,000 after purchasing an additional 37,858 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought 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 owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $29.3270 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $14.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.74.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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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