Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Bought by Groupama Asset Managment

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Management increased its holdings in Centene Corporation by 74.6% in Q1, now owning 29,584 shares valued at approximately $1.776 million.
• Several institutional investors have recently made moves regarding Centene, with a significant percentage of the stock (93.63%) owned by these entities.
• Wall Street analysts have lowered price targets for Centene, with average projections around $42.20 and ratings varying from Buy to Sell.

Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 74.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,584 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,636 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment's holdings in Centene were worth $1,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 39,345 shares of the company's stock worth $2,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 148.9% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 36,721 shares of the company's stock worth $2,225,000 after acquiring an additional 21,967 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 39.7% in the fourth quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 188,493 shares of the company's stock worth $11,419,000 after acquiring an additional 53,534 shares during the last quarter. Quantessence Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $2,114,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock worth $228,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. TD Cowen reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $42.20.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC traded up $0.5170 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $29.3270. 10,876,442 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 18,792,844. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.81. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.