AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd lifted its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 81.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,279,287 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 573,736 shares during the quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $69,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.8% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 618,167 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,554,000 after purchasing an additional 44,536 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 15.1% in the second quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 34,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,894,000 after purchasing an additional 4,577 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 759,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,221,000 after purchasing an additional 50,706 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 187.9% in the second quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 66,790 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,625,000 after purchasing an additional 43,595 shares during the period. Finally, QV Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 13.3% in the second quarter. QV Investors Inc. now owns 297,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,123,000 after purchasing an additional 34,880 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on CNC. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “sell” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial set a $42.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at $21,554,512.50. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE CNC opened at $34.07 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $70.11. The firm has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.43, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene 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.