Centene Corporation $CNC is Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s Largest Position

Board of the Pension Protection Fund lifted its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 60.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,900 shares during the quarter. Centene comprises 1.8% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Centene in the second quarter worth $1,435,997,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 76.6% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after buying an additional 6,356,152 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after buying an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. 8 Knots Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter worth about $186,662,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 32.0% during the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,989,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111,674 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Mizuho set a $41.00 target price on shares of Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Argus upgraded Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.81.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $35.57 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.51. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock has a market cap of $17.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The company had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.