Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Purchased by Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,832 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,425 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 42.7% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 11,049,494 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,820,000 after buying an additional 3,306,796 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth $146,557,000. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Centene by 155.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,802,000 after buying an additional 2,373,280 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 52.5% in the first quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC now owns 3,050,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $185,220,000 after buying an additional 1,050,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focused Investors LLC grew its stake in Centene by 588.1% during the 1st quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 1,042,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,284,000 after acquiring an additional 890,900 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $34.07 on Monday. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $70.11. The stock has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a PE ratio of 8.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The company had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.42 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In related news, CEO Sarah London purchased 19,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Centene

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.