Nordea Investment Management AB Trims Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Nordea Investment Management AB trimmed its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 73.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 54,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 147,485 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,356,152 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. grew its position in Centene by 184.0% during 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. 8 Knots Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $186,662,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Centene by 32.0% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $310,989,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111,674 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 705.4% during the 3rd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,299,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,028,000 after acquiring an additional 2,013,560 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 4.6%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $32.00 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $66.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $15.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $40.39 and a 200 day moving average of $38.72.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.41 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Argus raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $59.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.81.

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.