Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 557,418 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Voya Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 42.2% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 763,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 557,418 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $27,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,253,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth about $4,033,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Centene by 83.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after buying an additional 19,181 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Centene by 6.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,384,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,724,000 after buying an additional 199,016 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC increased 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 last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $39.02 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.13.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Centene from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, November 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.44.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.