Magnetar Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Magnetar Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 34.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 171,417 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 43,572 shares during the period. Magnetar Financial LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,305,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,253,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $4,033,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in Centene by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after purchasing an additional 19,181 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,850,000 after acquiring an additional 207,600 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Centene by 3.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,045,000 after purchasing an additional 143,573 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 3.1%

Shares of CNC opened at $34.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.38.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The company had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased 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. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.