Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Acquires 77,958 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 124.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,776 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,958 shares during the quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $7,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Centene by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306,796 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $146,557,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 155.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,802,000 after buying an additional 2,373,280 shares in the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 52.5% in the 1st quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 3,050,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,220,000 after acquiring an additional 1,050,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 58,396,605 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,169,768,000 after acquiring an additional 869,706 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $36.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $39.21. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $66.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current 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.