Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Reduces Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners LLP has reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 38.5%, selling 47,010 shares and leaving it with a total of 75,215 shares valued at approximately $4.57 million.
• During the same quarter, several institutional investors significantly increased their holdings in Centene, with Boston Partners raising its stake by 155.3% to own nearly 3.9 million shares.
• Analysts have cut their price targets for Centene, with recent estimates ranging from $30.00 to $45.00, reflecting a cautious outlook following a drop in earnings and stock performance.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP cut its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 38.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 75,215 shares of the company's stock after selling 47,010 shares during the quarter. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Centene were worth $4,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its holdings in Centene by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.8% in the first quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company's stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Centene by 6.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,387 shares of the company's stock worth $270,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $65.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Three equities 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Centene Stock Down 1.2%

Centene stock traded down $0.3660 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.0340. The stock had a trading volume of 5,388,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,678,761. The business's 50 day moving average price is $35.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The company has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.