Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Makes New $5.04 Million Investment in Centene Corporation $CNC

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 78,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,036,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after purchasing an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company's stock valued at $554,338,000 after buying an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company's stock worth $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company's stock worth $370,456,000 after buying an additional 603,585 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CNC. Morgan Stanley set a $66.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Centene in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Centene from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $70.05.

Centene Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $64.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $32.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.22, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $65.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.25. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $28.24 and a 12-month high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

About Centene

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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