Kentucky Retirement Systems Lowers Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 40,214 shares of the company’s stock after selling 376 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Centene were worth $2,666,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter worth $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P lifted its stake in Centene by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after acquiring an additional 6,881,450 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in Centene by 60.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,390,000 after acquiring an additional 1,959,460 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.4% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 898,943 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,710,000 after purchasing an additional 386,379 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Centene by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,707,648 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,150,000 after purchasing an additional 385,426 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $75.63 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.51.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.10 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Stephens reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

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.