Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 13,208,639 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279,637 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $718,547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays set a $44.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research raised Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Centene from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.47.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $36.40 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $66.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.03. The firm has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.