Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Invests $3 Million in Centene Corporation $CNC

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. acquired a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 46,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,000,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. purchased a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Centene by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Bayban bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $46.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,957,937.44. The trade was a 13.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $65.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $32.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $52.63. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.24 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 issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.Centene’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.16) EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.