HBW Advisory Services LLC Sells 9,204 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

HBW Advisory Services LLC cut its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 20.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,435 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,204 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,668,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the 4th quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $806,170,000 after buying an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Centene by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock valued at $678,033,000 after buying an additional 32,427 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Centene by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 5,491,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $364,117,000 after buying an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors grew its stake in Centene by 60.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CNC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.07 on Friday, hitting $72.11. 1,604,903 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,543,353. The stock has a market cap of $38.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company has a 50 day moving average of $75.82 and a 200 day moving average of $73.31.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Centene 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.