Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Centene Corporation $CNC

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 15.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 34,887 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,577 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% during 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 boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 187.9% during 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. QV Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 13.3% during 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. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 277.5% during the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 20,180 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,095,000 after purchasing an additional 14,835 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 52.1% during the second quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $859,000 after purchasing an additional 5,425 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $33.06 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $16.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.81.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Bank of America downgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down previously from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, July 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

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.