Weiss Asset Management LP Cuts Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Weiss Asset Management LP lessened its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 738,965 shares of the company’s stock after selling 100,070 shares during the quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $24,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Centene by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after purchasing an additional 190,334 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 117.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after buying an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $554,338,000 after buying an additional 697,277 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,456,000 after buying an additional 603,585 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 8th. Zacks Research cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Mizuho set a $63.00 price target on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.61.

Centene Stock Down 0.6%

CNC stock opened at $63.35 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $69.36. The firm has a market cap of $31.28 billion, a PE ratio of -4.82, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 EPS 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.