Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors acquired 83,953 Centene shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $5.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.63% of Centene’s outstanding stock.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed, with ratings ranging from strong buy to sell; Centene has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.15.
• Centene reported quarterly EPS of $2.51, well above the $1.09 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $53.58 billion, up 9.9% year over year and above expectations.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 83,953 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,389,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at $257,279,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $956,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI acquired a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,098,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,883,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Argus upgraded Centene from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 price target on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $61.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $69.15.

Centene Stock Down 4.7%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $64.32 on Tuesday. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.24 and a 12-month high of $69.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $64.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.16, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.08.

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 company had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene Profile

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.

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