Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Key Points

• Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. significantly increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 223.8%, owning 146,087 shares valued at approximately $8.87 million as of the latest SEC filing.
• Several analysts have downgraded Centene's stock rating, with target prices cut significantly, indicating a bearish sentiment about its future performance.
• Centene reported a quarterly earnings miss, with an EPS of ($0.16), falling short of expectations, despite achieving a revenue of $48.74 billion.

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 223.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 146,087 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 100,976 shares during the quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Centene were worth $8,869,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in shares of Centene by 55.6% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock worth $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 16,108 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Centene by 32.3% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock worth $383,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene by 30.0% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,026,000 after purchasing an additional 163,462 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 925,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,046,000 after purchasing an additional 270,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC grew its position in Centene by 588.1% during the first quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 1,042,400 shares of the company's stock worth $63,284,000 after buying an additional 890,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the acquisition, the director 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock traded down $0.31 on Tuesday, hitting $25.90. The company had a trading volume of 17,280,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,393,872. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.11 and a 12-month high of $80.59. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.22. The stock has a market cap of $12.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%. The business had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Bank of America cut Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays cut their target price on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Centene Company Profile

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.