First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 29,423 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 41.5%, acquiring an additional 29,423 shares and bringing its total holdings to 100,287 shares valued at approximately $5,444,000.
• Centene's stock received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and price targets ranging from $28.00 to $42.00 per share.
• CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares at an average price of $25.50 per share, increasing her ownership to 845,275 shares worth about $21.6 million.

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 41.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,287 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,423 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Centene were worth $5,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Centene by 15.4% in the second quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 8,791 shares of the company's stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 1,172 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 68,384 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,692,000 after purchasing an additional 4,867 shares during the period. VCI Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 14.7% in the second quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,572 shares of the company's stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 1,736 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its holdings in Centene by 0.5% in the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 583,845 shares of the company's stock worth $31,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 13.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,207 shares of the company's stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Truist Financial set a $42.00 price objective on Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $33.49 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $70.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.45 billion, a PE ratio of 8.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its 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). 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 analysts' expectations of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company'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. 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.

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.