Focused Investors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Focused Investors LLC increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 19.9% during the second quarter, acquiring an additional 207,600 shares, bringing its total holdings to 1,250,000 shares.
• Centene's earnings report revealed a loss of ($0.16) per share, significantly missing the expected earnings of $0.23, while revenue increased by 22.4% year-over-year.
• Analyst ratings for Centene have shifted with Bank of America downgrading it from "neutral" to "underperform" and lowering the price target from $52 to $30.

Focused Investors LLC lifted its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 19.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,250,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 207,600 shares during the period. Centene makes up about 2.2% of Focused Investors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Focused Investors LLC owned approximately 0.25% of Centene worth $67,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth $1,253,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at $4,033,000. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 83.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,566,000 after buying an additional 19,181 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $292,045,000 after buying an additional 143,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the second quarter valued at $493,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.07.

Insider Activity at Centene

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

Centene Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $38.44 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $73.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.45 and a 200 day moving average of $44.96.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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.