Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 127,845 Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Magnetar Financial LLC has acquired a new stake in Centene Corporation, purchasing 127,845 shares valued at approximately $7.76 million during the first quarter.
• Recent analyst activity shows Centene's stock has seen multiple downgrades, with Bank of America lowering its rating from "neutral" to "underperform" and reducing the target price from $52.00 to $30.00.
• In a recent insider transaction, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares at an average price of $25.50 per share, increasing her ownership stake in Centene.

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 127,845 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,761,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB raised its position in Centene by 8.8% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 3.2% during the first quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,617 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after acquiring an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in Centene by 2.8% during 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 last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in shares of Centene by 6.0% in the first quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew 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 valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 254 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Barclays decreased their price target on Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Bank of America lowered Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by insiders.

Centene Price Performance

CNC traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.60. 9,861,506 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,745,571. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $80.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.48. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.