10,325 Shares in Centene Corporation $CNC Purchased by Leuthold Group LLC

Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $641,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in CNC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Centene by 423.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $853,805,000 after acquiring an additional 10,757,914 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Centene by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,173,000 after acquiring an additional 608,249 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Centene by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,818,000 after acquiring an additional 802,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $285,713,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of Centene stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Up 2.4%

Centene stock opened at $70.17 on Wednesday. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $31.63 and a 52-week high of $78.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $66.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $56.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $50.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.12 billion. Centene had a net margin of 0.72% and a return on equity of 12.15%. Centene’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 5.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective (up from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $79.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.80.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation is a U.S. health care company that provides managed care and related services, primarily for people enrolled in government-sponsored health programs. Its offerings include Medicaid and Medicare plans, as well as health insurance sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. Centene serves members through health plans and a network of health care providers. Its businesses include Ambetter, which offers marketplace health plans, and Wellcare, which provides Medicare-related coverage.