Rafferty Asset Management LLC Decreases Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC has reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 19.8%, now holding 45,917 shares worth approximately $2.79 million.
• CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of Centene stock, increasing her ownership by 2.33% to a total value of around $21.55 million.
• Centene's stock has seen recent downgrades, with Wall Street analysts changing ratings and price targets, resulting in an average rating of "Hold" and a price target of $42.20.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,917 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,335 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $2,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its holdings in Centene by 8.8% in 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. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC lifted its position 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 during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its position in Centene by 6.0% during 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 during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in 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 during the period. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Centene by 0.3% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 97,346 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,910,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Barclays decreased 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. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.20.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.60. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,881,610 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,745,711. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $80.59. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $49.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). The business had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.