Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Purchased by Wedge Capital Management L L P NC

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Centene Corporation by 3.0% during the second quarter, owning a total of 556,335 shares valued at approximately $30.2 million.
• Centene reported a dip in earnings with an EPS of (0.16), falling short of the consensus estimate of $0.23, despite revenue of $48.74 billion which exceeded expectations.
• Insider buying activity includes purchases from Director Theodore R. Samuels II and CEO Sarah London, with London acquiring 19,230 shares at $25.50 each, raising her ownership to around 845,275 shares valued at over $21.5 million.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 556,335 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 16,098 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned 0.11% of Centene worth $30,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company's stock valued at $669,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306,796 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the 1st quarter valued at about $146,557,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 155.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company's stock valued at $236,802,000 after buying an additional 2,373,280 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 111.5% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,608,213 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,055,000 after buying an additional 1,902,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 8 Knots Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 3,050,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $185,220,000 after buying an additional 1,050,648 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC traded up $0.17 on Tuesday, hitting $32.87. The company had a trading volume of 5,010,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,288,156. The company has a market capitalization of $16.14 billion, a PE ratio of 8.15, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.44. The company's fifty day moving average price is $28.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $75.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.Centene's revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 5th. 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 research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $38.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director directly owned 32,000 shares of the company's stock, 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.

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.