Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. decreased its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 1.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,507,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 27,881 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.31% of Centene worth $53,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $236,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 78.1% during the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,462 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 251.1% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 13,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $734,000 after buying an additional 9,674 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in Centene by 22.4% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in Centene by 6.8% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 121,631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,602,000 after acquiring an additional 7,701 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $47.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.88. The company has a market cap of $23.23 billion, a PE ratio of -4.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.50 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Centene from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.38.

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.