Pacer Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 24.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,093 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,600 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,182,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in 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 increased its stake in Centene by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,456,000 after purchasing an additional 603,585 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of CNC opened at $65.69 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $64.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.96. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.18 and a 12-month high of $69.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The company’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 4.800- EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $68.58.

Centene 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.