Pacer Advisors Inc. Has $2.44 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 59.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,393 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 25,608 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trexquant Investment LP bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $2,048,000. Vident Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 78.8% during the first quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 9,922 shares of the company’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 4,374 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $236,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Centene in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Centene by 404.2% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 22,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,371,000 after purchasing an additional 18,108 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Centene from $30.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Barclays set a $44.00 target price on shares of Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.44.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $41.22 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.66 and a 200 day moving average of $35.39. The company has a market capitalization of $20.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.81, a PEG ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $66.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.50 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The business’s revenue was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

About Centene

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.