35,702 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Bought by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 35,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,292,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after purchasing an additional 697,277 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its stake in Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Centene by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,456,000 after purchasing an additional 603,585 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho set a $63.00 price objective on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Argus upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on Centene from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $64.91 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.24 and a 1 year high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $32.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average of $65.33 and a 200-day moving average of $53.25.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. Centene’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.