Sei Investments Co. Sells 33,800 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Sei Investments Co. lessened its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,564,530 shares of the company’s stock after selling 33,800 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Centene were worth $51,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Centene by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,344,676,000 after buying an additional 190,334 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 117.0% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock worth $370,456,000 after purchasing an additional 603,585 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $63.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $69.36. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $63.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a PE ratio of -4.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 4th. Seven research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.61.

Centene Company 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.