Centene Corporation $CNC Stock Position Increased by Cerity Partners LLC

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 136.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 955,876 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 552,397 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC owned approximately 0.19% of Centene worth $39,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $332,044,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,356,152 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 184.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth $186,662,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 32.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $65.44 on Thursday. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The company has a market capitalization of $32.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $50.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.98.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $47.00 target price (up from $38.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Centene from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.24.

Centene 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.