Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 153,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,839,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. MidFirst Bank bought a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fiduciary Financial Advisors acquired a new position in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. DV Equities LLC bought a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 564.6% in the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $64.32 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $65.35 and its 200-day moving average is $53.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.77 billion, a PE ratio of -6.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $28.24 and a 1 year high of $69.36.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Centene from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 price target (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price objective on Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

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.