High Ground Investment Management LLP Has $4.20 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Key Points

• High Ground Investment Management LLP reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 36.7%, now holding 69,203 shares valued at approximately $4.2 million, making it the firm's 8th largest holding.
• A variety of hedge funds have either entered new positions or increased existing stakes in Centene, with institutional investors now owning 93.63% of the company's stock.
• Centene recently reported a loss of $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, significantly missing analysts' expectations, while revenue increased by 22.4% year-over-year, reaching $48.74 billion.

High Ground Investment Management LLP lowered its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 36.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,203 shares of the company's stock after selling 40,068 shares during the period. Centene accounts for 1.0% of High Ground Investment Management LLP's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. High Ground Investment Management LLP's holdings in Centene were worth $4,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 203.1% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on CNC. 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. Mizuho reduced their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $70.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.31.

Centene Trading Down 0.9%

Centene stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.82. The stock had a trading volume of 12,550,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,100,049. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.11 and a one year high of $80.59. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $44.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.85.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during 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 was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.