Trek Financial LLC Acquires New Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC

Trek Financial LLC bought a new position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 15,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $961,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Centene by 423.0% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,805,000 after acquiring an additional 10,757,914 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $285,713,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $257,279,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at $244,463,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related 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 owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price (up from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho set a $72.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.80.

Centene Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of CNC opened at $66.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $32.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $66.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.37. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.63 and a 52-week high of $72.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.48. Centene had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 0.72%. The company had revenue of $50.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 5.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.