National Pension Service Buys 6,416 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

National Pension Service grew its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 0.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 931,519 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Centene were worth $50,563,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP bought a new position in Centene during the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 248.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 265.8% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $77,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Centene from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Centene from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.47.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $36.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a PE ratio of -3.34, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.19. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The company had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. Centene’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast 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.