Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by US Bancorp DE

Key Points

• US Bancorp DE reduced its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 47.8%, owning approximately 0.11% of the company valued at $34.7 million after selling over 524,000 shares.
• In the most recent quarterly earnings, Centene reported a loss of ($0.16) earnings per share, missing expectations by ($0.39), despite revenues of $48.74 billion, which was above analyst estimates.
• Centene's stock has faced significant downgrades from various analysts, with price targets being lowered substantially, reflecting a consensus target price of $42.53.

US Bancorp DE lowered its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 47.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 571,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 524,120 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE owned about 0.11% of Centene worth $34,702,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 203.1% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their target price for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Mizuho dropped 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $0.70 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.20. 17,446,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,302,182. The business's 50-day moving average price is $42.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.03. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.11 and a twelve month 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 has a market capitalization of $12.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.24, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $44.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.