EP Wealth Advisors LLC Has $956,000 Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• EP Wealth Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Centene Corporation by 38.1% in the first quarter, now owning 15,740 shares valued at approximately $956,000.
• Several institutional investors have recently acquired new positions in Centene, with a significant boost from Golden State Wealth Management LLC, increasing their stake by 203.1%.
• Analysts have downgraded Centene's stock ratings; Bank of America and Mizuho both cut their price targets significantly, indicating a bearish outlook for the company's shares.

EP Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 38.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,740 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,675 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 203.1% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Bank of America cut Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $37.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $28.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day moving average of $29.80 and a 200-day moving average of $48.83. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $77.29.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.