Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Cuts Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 6.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,535,187 shares of the company’s stock after selling 101,672 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $83,330,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,091,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $673,393,000 after purchasing an additional 536,508 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 3,306,796 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Centene by 3.1% in 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 valued at $292,045,000 after acquiring an additional 143,573 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Centene by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,433,451 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,134,000 after acquiring an additional 28,462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Centene by 23.7% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 4,055,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,225,000 after acquiring an additional 776,331 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $34.07 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $70.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its 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 company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene has an average 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.