United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Grows Stock Position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund lifted its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 135.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,500 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,200 shares during the quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 45.1% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 9,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 2,871 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in Centene by 53.5% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 41,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,531,000 after purchasing an additional 14,560 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Centene by 51.1% in the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 230,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,941,000 after purchasing an additional 77,865 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 9,385 shares of the company’s stock worth $569,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $982,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Theodore R. Samuels II acquired 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 32,000 shares in the company, valued at $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price objective (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, July 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho decreased their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on Centene from $42.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.31.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $25.92 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.11 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $54.59. The company has a market capitalization of $12.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.42, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a return on equity of 9.57% and a net margin of 1.15%. The firm had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.42 EPS. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.