Sterneck Capital Management LLC Buys New Stake in Centene Corporation $CNC

Sterneck Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,192 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $336,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Centene in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 203.1% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 388 shares in the last quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 273.8% in the 1st quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth $73,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 78.1% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $34.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market cap of $17.13 billion, a PE ratio of 8.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.44. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.04. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $75.35.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%.The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Centene

In other Centene news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $25.50 per share, with a total value of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $883,840. This represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNC. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $33.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their target price for the company from $72.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.33.

About Centene

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.