GSA Capital Partners LLP Has $2.61 Million Stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

GSA Capital Partners LLP boosted its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 134.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,060 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,673 shares during the period. Centene makes up approximately 0.2% of GSA Capital Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. GSA Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Centene by 21.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 42.8% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 32.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $391,854,000 after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,760,000 after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $228,414,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Down 5.4%

Centene stock opened at $26.87 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $26.25 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $46.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.52. The firm has a market cap of $13.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.65, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $70.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.44.

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.