28,100 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Acquired by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 28,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,003,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new position in Centene during the 3rd quarter worth $349,000. Sendero Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 815.2% during the third quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 147,263 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,254,000 after buying an additional 131,173 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Centene by 32.2% during the third quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 5,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 1,436 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Centene by 87.0% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 21,755 shares of the company’s stock valued at $776,000 after acquiring an additional 10,123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nilsine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 13,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Down 0.5%

Centene stock opened at $39.02 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $37.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.40. The company has a market capitalization of $19.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.61, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Centene from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.44.

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.