Swiss National Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 4.2%, now owning 1,423,824 shares valued at approximately $86.44 million.
• Research analysts have significantly lowered their price targets for Centene, with TD Cowen issuing a new objective of $33.00, down from $73.00.
• Centene reported a quarterly earnings miss of ($0.16) per share, falling short of the consensus estimate, despite a revenue increase to $48.74 billion.

Swiss National Bank lessened its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,423,824 shares of the company's stock after selling 62,200 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned about 0.29% of Centene worth $86,440,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP boosted its position in Centene by 1,788.1% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company's stock valued at $136,033,000 after buying an additional 2,126,582 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Centene by 111.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,608,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,055,000 after buying an additional 1,902,277 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CNC. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 4th. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and issued a $33.00 price target (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, July 21st. 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 report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock traded up $0.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $26.12. The stock had a trading volume of 16,242,302 shares, compared to its average volume of 21,727,420. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $12.83 billion, a PE ratio of 6.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $39.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.70.

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

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This represents 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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.