National Pension Service Sells 621,877 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

National Pension Service cut its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 59.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 420,989 shares of the company’s stock after selling 621,877 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Centene were worth $17,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 455.6% during the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 739 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 606 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 152.5% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 1,010 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial raised their price target on Centene from $49.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Centene from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.18.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $59.72 on Monday. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $60.76. The stock has a market cap of $29.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.54, a PEG ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $45.44 and a 200-day moving average of $42.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The company had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current 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.