Quantitative Investment Management LLC Acquires 8,812 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 30.3%, owning 37,913 shares valued at approximately $2.30 million.
• Analysts have lowered price targets for Centene from a high of $65.00 to as low as $31.00, reflecting a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $42.20.
• Centene reported a quarterly loss of ($0.16) EPS, missing estimates, despite a revenue increase of 22.4% year-over-year, totaling $48.74 billion.

Quantitative Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 30.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 37,913 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,812 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $2,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jump Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 282.0% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 571,422 shares of the company's stock worth $34,691,000 after purchasing an additional 421,829 shares during the last quarter. SVB Wealth LLC raised its position in Centene by 140.4% in the 1st quarter. SVB Wealth LLC now owns 17,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 10,041 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Centene by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 15,116 shares of the company's stock valued at $918,000 after acquiring an additional 3,173 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 42.0% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 22,928 shares of the company's stock worth $1,392,000 after acquiring an additional 6,786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 10.2% in the first quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 17,312 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 1,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Insider Activity

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

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.36. The stock had a trading volume of 7,107,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,738,580. 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 $13.93 billion, a PE ratio of 7.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $80.59. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $33.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.18.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 EPS. 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.