Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Sells 27,000 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund sold 27,000 shares of Centene Corporation, reducing its stake by 28.6%, leaving it with a total of 67,360 shares valued at $4,089,000.
• CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of Centene for $490,365, increasing her ownership stake by 2.33% to 845,275 shares valued at approximately $21.55 million.
• Research analysts have revised their price targets for Centene, with estimates dropping significantly; for example, Mizuho lowered its target from $71.00 to $40.00 and Barclays from $65.00 to $45.00, highlighting a general trend of decreased investor confidence.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 28.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,360 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,000 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Centene were worth $4,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the 1st quarter valued at $146,557,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Centene by 155.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,802,000 after buying an additional 2,373,280 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.5550 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $29.3650. 4,043,591 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,696,908. The company has a market cap of $14.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.40. 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 50-day simple moving average of $35.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $51.03. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.20.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

About Centene

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.