Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Simplicity Wealth LLC

Simplicity Wealth LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 52.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,612 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,264 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $422,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth approximately $914,080,000. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Centene by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 8,652,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $678,033,000 after acquiring an additional 32,427 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Centene by 0.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 25,595 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Centene by 60.2% in 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 during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Centene by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $339,042,000 after acquiring an additional 636,683 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $72.44 on Monday. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $63.45 and a 1-year high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $75.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.66 billion, a PE ratio of 14.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus 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.