DNB Asset Management AS Has $10.59 Million Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

DNB Asset Management AS lessened its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 24.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 195,098 shares of the company’s stock after selling 61,679 shares during the quarter. DNB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Centene were worth $10,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 3.7% in the first quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 99,490 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,040,000 after buying an additional 3,574 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in Centene during the 1st quarter worth about $316,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Centene by 11.5% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 6,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 659 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.5% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 17,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 901 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. 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 report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective (up from $36.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC opened at $36.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a PE ratio of -3.37, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $39.07. 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 (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $47.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.62 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.