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Legal & General Group Plc Invests $244.46 Million in Centene Corporation $CNC

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Key Points

  • Legal & General Group Plc acquired 3.81 million Centene shares worth approximately $244.5 million during the second quarter, giving it a 0.77% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 93.63% of Centene.
  • Analyst views remain mixed: Centene has a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $70.05, though Deutsche Bank upgraded the stock to “Buy” and raised its target to $80.
  • Centene reported a strong quarter, with adjusted earnings of $2.51 per share versus expectations of $1.09 and revenue of $53.58 billion, up 9.9% year over year. The stock opened at $65.35, near its 52-week high of $69.36.
  • Interested in Centene? Here are five stocks we like better.

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,808,421 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $244,463,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.77% of Centene as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidFirst Bank acquired a new position in Centene in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 564.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the period. Finally, IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen restated a "hold" rating and set a $65.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $46.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.05.

Get Our Latest Analysis on CNC

Centene Stock Up 0.5%

Centene stock opened at $65.35 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $65.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.24 and a 1-year high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.Centene's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total value of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,957,937.44. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Centene Company Profile

(Free Report)

Centene Corporation NYSE: CNC is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene's offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding CNC? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Centene (NYSE:CNC)

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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