Avidity Partners Management LP Acquires Shares of 119,400 Centene Corporation $CNC

Avidity Partners Management LP acquired a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 119,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,913,000. Centene accounts for about 1.4% of Avidity Partners Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after buying an additional 190,334 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 76.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after buying an additional 6,356,152 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after buying an additional 697,277 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,456,000 after buying an additional 603,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday. Barclays lifted their target price on Centene from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.24.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $65.18 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.09. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $66.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 EPS for the current year.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.