Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 35,791 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 389,109 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,791 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $13,883,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth about $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth $410,000. Cidel Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Centene by 13.0% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 583,845 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,966 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $40.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.55. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.41 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.80 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group set a $42.00 price target on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.81.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a diversified, multi-national healthcare enterprise that specializes in providing services to government-sponsored and national health programs. The company primarily acts as a managed care organization, delivering healthcare coverage and administering benefits for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicare Advantage, and individual marketplace plans. Centene also contracts with federal and state agencies to manage specialty care programs and community-based services for vulnerable populations.

Centene’s offerings extend beyond traditional insurance to include a range of specialty and support services.