Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) Shares Acquired by Empirical Finance LLC

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,561 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,613,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Centene by 203.1% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 6.0%

NYSE:CNC opened at $28.36 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $55.82. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $26.25 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a market capitalization of $14.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.04% and a return on equity of 14.56%. Centene’s revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Bank of America lowered shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Centene from $84.00 to $42.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Guggenheim restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.94.

Centene Profile

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.