Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 233,626 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,698 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $14,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock valued at $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock worth $391,854,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Centene by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock worth $320,760,000 after acquiring an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock worth $228,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Centene by 111.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,608,213 shares of the company's stock worth $219,055,000 after acquiring an additional 1,902,277 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $25.58. The company had a trading volume of 11,416,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,123,356. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of 6.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $40.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.24.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) 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%. The company's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene 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 price 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company's stock.

Centene 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.