Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 17.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,201 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 938 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $467,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 624,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,046,000 after acquiring an additional 98,298 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in shares of Centene by 435.0% in the first quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 20,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,574,000 after purchasing an additional 16,304 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Centene by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 28,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,857,000 after purchasing an additional 7,385 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Centene by 189.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 24,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,895,000 after purchasing an additional 15,819 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in Centene by 7.3% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 118,597 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,307,000 after buying an additional 8,103 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Centene stock opened at $62.02 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.70. Centene Co. has a one year low of $61.62 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CNC. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven equities research 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

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.