Vanguard Group Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,788,419 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,608,186 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.55% of Centene worth $2,026,211,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Addison Advisors LLC boosted its position in Centene by 455.6% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Mowery & Schoenfeld Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WPG Advisers LLC raised its position in Centene by 44.5% in the third quarter. WPG Advisers LLC now owns 915 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 282 shares during the period. Bogart Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 11,011.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 991 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 54.9% during the third quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Centene from $43.00 to $37.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $38.00 target price (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Zacks Research upgraded Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.88.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $43.61 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $21.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.20, a PEG ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.75.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.