Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Newly Bought by Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $614,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Centene by 423.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,805,000 after buying an additional 10,757,914 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $285,713,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $257,279,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $244,463,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

More Centene News

Here are the key news stories impacting Centene this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Centene will launch a nationwide performance-based Gold Card Program in November 2026. The program will initially cover more than 160,000 qualifying providers and streamline prior-authorization reviews for certain outpatient services while maintaining clinical and quality standards. Investors may view the initiative as a way to reduce administrative friction, improve provider relationships and support operating efficiency. Centene to Launch Nationwide Gold Card Program for Qualifying Providers
• Positive Sentiment: Additional bullish discussion highlighted Centene’s redemption of its remaining 2027 notes, expansion of primary-care capabilities and the Gold Card rollout. These developments reinforce a recovery narrative centered on lower debt, simpler administration and improving margins ahead of the company’s late-October earnings report. Centene Is Up After Gold Card, Debt Redemption and Primary Care Expansion News
• Positive Sentiment: PA Health & Wellness, a Centene subsidiary, was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as one of the top 17 Medicaid health plans in the United States for the second consecutive year. The recognition supports Centene’s quality credentials in its core Medicaid business, although the direct financial impact is limited. PA Health & Wellness Earns National Recognition Among Top Medicaid Health Plans
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Sarah London said artificial intelligence should improve access for Medicaid patients, including those in medical-care deserts, rather than merely reduce billing costs. The comments support Centene’s longer-term innovation strategy, but no specific financial targets or implementation details were announced. Centene CEO Sarah London Discusses Medicaid and AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary from Zacks favored Centene over Molina Healthcare, citing CNC’s diversified business, improving margins, lower valuation and stronger expected earnings prospects. However, the cited median analyst price target of $62 is below the stock’s recent trading level, potentially limiting near-term upside.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity over the past six months consisted of sales rather than purchases, including sales by executives Christopher Koster and Kenneth Burdick. Insider selling does not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals, but it is a modest sentiment headwind.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Centene from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.05.

Centene Stock Up 2.8%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $68.89 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.63 and a 1 year high of $69.70. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $65.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.07. The stock has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.60, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) is a healthcare enterprise that provides health insurance and related services, primarily through government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicaid plans, Medicare products, health plans sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, and services for military families through government-sponsored healthcare programs.

The company also provides pharmacy, behavioral health, specialty healthcare, care management and administrative services through various subsidiaries and partner organizations.