Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Sold by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund trimmed its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 26.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 209,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,773 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $7,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 66.0% in the 3rd quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 85,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after buying an additional 33,875 shares during the period. Packer & Co Ltd purchased a new position in Centene in the third quarter worth $50,487,000. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter valued at $21,485,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 122.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 223,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,962,000 after purchasing an additional 122,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Centene by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,384,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,724,000 after purchasing an additional 199,016 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on CNC. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Argus raised Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Centene from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on Centene in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.50.

Centene Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of CNC opened at $40.53 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.29. The stock has a market cap of $19.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company 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.