Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 92,855 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,432 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Polianta Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,253,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the second quarter valued at about $4,033,000. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Centene by 83.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after buying an additional 19,181 shares during the period. Focused Investors LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,850,000 after buying an additional 207,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,045,000 after acquiring an additional 143,573 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $37.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market cap of $18.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.50, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.81. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $36.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.97.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 target price (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. UBS Group set a $42.00 price objective on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

About Centene

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.