Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Sold by Swedbank AB

Swedbank AB lowered its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 33.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,028,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 512,276 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Centene were worth $33,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter worth about $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Centene by 80.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 4,315 shares in the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC grew its stake in Centene by 20.3% during the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after buying an additional 820 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Centene by 6.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 44,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after buying an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Centene by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 231,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,590,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CNC. Zacks Research downgraded Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.44.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $67.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $69.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $60.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.57. The firm has a market cap of $33.13 billion, a PE ratio of -5.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The business had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

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.