The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 53,920 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Key Points

• The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in Centene Corporation by 13.5%, owning approximately 0.07% of the company after selling 53,920 shares in the first quarter.
• CEO Sarah London and Director Theodore R. Samuels II have both increased their stakes in Centene, with London acquiring 19,230 shares and Samuels purchasing 9,000 shares recently.
• Centene's stock has experienced recent downgrades from multiple analysts, with target prices decreasing significantly, reflecting a shift in market sentiment toward the company.

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 346,464 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,920 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.07% of Centene worth $21,034,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Centene by 55.6% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 16,108 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in Centene by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,333 shares of the company's stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,546 shares during the period. AXS Investments LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $1,458,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 30.0% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 708,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,026,000 after purchasing an additional 163,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 925,150 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,046,000 after purchasing an additional 270,899 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,106,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,184,450. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $77.29. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $29.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The company's revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNC. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America lowered shares of Centene from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $37.93.

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.