AMF Tjanstepension AB Takes $19.99 Million Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

AMF Tjanstepension AB bought a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 368,342 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,994,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Centene by 233.2% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 41,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,536,000 after acquiring an additional 29,235 shares during the period. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 49.0% in the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 5,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 1,915 shares during the last quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC grew its position in Centene by 38.6% during the first quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 10,012 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 2,788 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management increased its holdings in Centene by 7.4% during the first quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 18,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,120,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth $328,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on CNC. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 5.1%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $38.71 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $29.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $45.35. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $73.50. The stock has a market cap of $19.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a PEG ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. Analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company Profile

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.