First Manhattan CO. LLC. Makes New Investment in Centene Corporation $CNC

First Manhattan CO. LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 474,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,830,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 203.1% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 388 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Centene news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II purchased 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at $883,840. The trade was a 39.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Bank of America downgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.20.

Centene Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of CNC opened at $29.03 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.67. The stock has a market cap of $14.26 billion, a PE ratio of 7.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $80.59. 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 (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) 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 business had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.