Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Acquires New Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 22,850 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $727,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heartland Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 145.7% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 125,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,117,000 after buying an additional 74,564 shares during the period. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super acquired a new stake in Centene during the first quarter worth $259,000. SouthState Bank Corp raised its position in Centene by 1.3% in the first quarter. SouthState Bank Corp now owns 24,013 shares of the company’s stock valued at $786,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. Calamos Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at $338,000. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 122,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,021,000 after purchasing an additional 10,312 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $67.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.14, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.26. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $69.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its 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. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.61.

Centene Company 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.