Swedbank AB Increases Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Swedbank AB grew its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,540,662 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 39,830 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $63,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at about $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 80.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 20.3% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.1% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 44,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,440,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.4% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 231,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,590,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Centene from $39.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $40.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America raised shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Centene from $42.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.82.

Centene Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of CNC opened at $55.30 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.75. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $64.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $27.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.21, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 3.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.