New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 9,346 Shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 282,270 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,346 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Centene worth $17,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC lifted 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 valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,889 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,932,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.1% during 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. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.3% during the fourth 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. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $1.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.95. 22,516,441 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,016,047. The firm has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a PE ratio of 4.17, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $50.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.00. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $27.88 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.26 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $84.00 to $42.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down previously from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Bank of America downgraded Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.63.

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.