VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $40.47 Million in Centene Corporation $CNC

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 745,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,471,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock valued at $669,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,306,796 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the first quarter valued at about $146,557,000. Boston Partners increased its holdings in Centene by 155.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,802,000 after buying an additional 2,373,280 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 52.5% in the first quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 3,050,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $185,220,000 after buying an additional 1,050,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 588.1% in the first quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 1,042,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,284,000 after acquiring an additional 890,900 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $35.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $70.11. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.65.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. Research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. This trade represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Centene in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “sell” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.50.

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.