5,576 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Acquired by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 248.2% in the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 824 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Centene by 265.8% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 856 shares during the period. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH bought a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $35.95 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $35.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price (up previously from $42.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $38.00 target price (up from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.47.

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.