Danske Bank A S Takes $16.29 Million Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 253,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,285,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $257,279,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 114.1% during the fourth quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 45,798 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 24,411 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,514,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth $2,134,000. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth $1,565,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price target on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at $19,957,937.44. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of CNC opened at $64.24 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $28.24 and a 12 month high of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $64.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $52.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current 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 (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $47.64 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. Equities analysts predict 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.