GSA Capital Partners LLP Raises Stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Key Points

• GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 134.2% during Q1, now holding 43,060 shares worth approximately $2.61 million.
• Centene recently reported a loss of ($0.16) EPS for the latest quarter, missing estimates, though revenue increased 22.4% year-over-year to $48.74 billion.
• Multiple analysts downgraded Centene's stock, with price targets adjusted down to between $30.00 and $43.00, indicating a shift in market sentiment.

GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 134.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 43,060 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,673 shares during the period. Centene accounts for about 0.2% of GSA Capital Partners LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. GSA Capital Partners LLP's holdings in Centene were worth $2,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 32.3% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Centene by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock valued at $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Centene from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $65.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, July 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.31.

Centene Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $25.82. 12,550,425 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,100,049. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.11 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $44.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $54.85. The firm has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share 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%. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate 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.