Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Decreases Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB reduced its stake in Centene Corporation by 33.3%, selling 175,416 shares and now owning approximately 0.07% of the company valued at $21.37 million.
• Centene reported a significant loss of $0.16 EPS, missing analysts' expectations, despite a year-over-year revenue increase of 22.4% to $48.74 billion.
• Multiple analysts downgraded Centene's stock rating, with target prices revised down from as high as $85.00 to as low as $30.00 in recent assessments.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ decreased its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 33.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 351,989 shares of the company's stock after selling 175,416 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ owned 0.07% of Centene worth $21,369,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Pinney & Scofield Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Centene by 203.1% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $26.26. The company had a trading volume of 6,226,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,869,017. The company has a market capitalization of $13.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.50 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $45.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $55.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.36% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.31.

About Centene

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.