Berger Financial Group Inc Purchases 20,187 Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Key Points

• Berger Financial Group Inc increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 30.4% in Q1, now holding 86,657 shares valued at approximately $5.26 million.
• Centene reported a revenue of $48.74 billion for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations, but reported an EPS of ($0.16), missing consensus estimates by ($0.39).
• Recent brokerages have lowered their price targets for Centene, with Truist Financial reducing its target from $42.00 to $35.00 and Bank of America dropping it from $52.00 to $30.00.

Berger Financial Group Inc raised its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 30.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 86,657 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 20,187 shares during the quarter. Berger Financial Group Inc's holdings in Centene were worth $5,261,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $65.00 to $38.00 in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of Centene 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 transaction, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% 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.

Centene Stock Up 3.4%

CNC stock traded up $0.87 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.12. The stock had a trading volume of 16,242,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,435,783. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $80.59. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $39.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $52.88. The company has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.40.

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