Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys 17,356 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 27.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,694 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,356 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,885,000 after purchasing an additional 6,356,152 shares during the period. Deerfield Management Company L.P. boosted its holdings in Centene by 184.0% in the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares during the period. 8 Knots Management LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $186,662,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Centene by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,716,056 shares of the company’s stock valued at $310,989,000 after purchasing an additional 2,111,674 shares during the period. Finally, Long Focus Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 705.4% in the 3rd quarter. Long Focus Capital Management LLC now owns 2,299,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,028,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013,560 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $41.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America raised shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $34.00 to $60.00 in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $63.00 price target (up from $54.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $41.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.41.

Centene Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $53.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $26.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.91 and a 200-day moving average of $39.45. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $64.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Centene

Here are the key news stories impacting Centene this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat and upgraded outlook — Centene reported stronger-than-expected Q1 results and raised guidance, improving margin visibility and prompting optimism about 2026–2027 recovery prospects. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Truist reiterates/raises stance to Buy — Truist moved to a Buy rating with a higher $58 target after the earnings beat, signaling conviction among some buy?side analysts. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple upgrades/favorable analyst commentary — Bank of America upgraded CNC to Buy with a $60 target; Cantor Fitzgerald and other boutiques also raised ratings/targets after Q1. These calls support upside sentiment. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS raised its price target to $55 but kept a Neutral rating — higher PTs broadly reflect improved forecasts, though many firms still rate CNC neutral/hold. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies, Morgan Stanley, Mizuho, Deutsche Bank raised targets but maintained Hold/Equal Weight/Neutral ratings — these moves tighten analyst valuation ranges but leave consensus mixed on near?term upside. Article Title Article Title Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary sees a potential momentum reversal into 2027 — bullish longer?term narrative but recommends watching execution and margin trends. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Proposed Medicare Advantage reform (H.R. 8375) introduces transparency, real?time auth and stricter oversight — if enacted, these changes could raise compliance/operational costs for MAOs like Centene and pressure margins over time. Legislative timing and details remain uncertain. Article Title

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.