Centene Corporation $CNC Position Boosted by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 786,720 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149,083 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Centene were worth $42,703,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Pension Service increased its stake in Centene by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 931,519 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,563,000 after buying an additional 6,416 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 0.7% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,929,712 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,314,000 after acquiring an additional 28,109 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $346,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Centene by 142.9% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 10,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 6,269 shares during the period. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Centene by 77.3% during the 2nd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 286,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,526,000 after purchasing an additional 124,747 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Stock Down 0.3%

CNC stock opened at $36.09 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.19. The company has a market cap of $17.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.34, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The business had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.50 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $38.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.47.

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.