Van ECK Associates Corp Reduces Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Van ECK Associates Corp decreased its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 54.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,162 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $804,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. DV Equities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Centene in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Bayban purchased a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.05.

Centene Trading Down 1.6%

CNC opened at $66.92 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.18. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $28.24 and a one year high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $33.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.41, a PEG ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The company had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS 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.