ARGA Investment Management LP Purchases New Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC

ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 602,172 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,485,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. WPG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 44.5% in the third quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 282 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in Centene by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,421 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 8.0% in the second quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the company’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 54.9% during the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of CNC opened at $46.07 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $22.65 billion, a PE ratio of -4.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The business had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CNC. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $38.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group set a $42.00 target price on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.81.

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.