Paralel Advisors LLC Purchases Shares of 70,588 Centene Corporation $CNC

Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 70,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,531,000. Centene comprises approximately 0.2% of Paralel Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 564.6% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 118.4% during the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $64.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $52.31. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $28.24 and a 52 week high of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $31.73 billion, a PE ratio of -6.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.16) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,957,937.44. This trade represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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.