Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Sells 26,243 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 20.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,757 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,243 shares during the period. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,415,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Centene by 1.5% in the second 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,208,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $718,547,000 after buying an additional 279,637 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,091,964 shares of the company’s stock worth $673,393,000 after buying an additional 536,508 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 42.7% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,820,000 after buying an additional 3,306,796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in 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 worth $292,045,000 after purchasing an additional 143,573 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 4.1%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $39.72 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.67, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $35.70 and its 200 day moving average is $38.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $66.81.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up from $42.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays set a $44.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.