First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 7,730 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 223,215 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,730 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Centene were worth $7,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Centene during the first quarter worth $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC grew its position in Centene by 20.3% in the 2nd quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 44,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Centene by 0.4% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 231,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,590,000 after buying an additional 967 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 target price (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.61.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $67.58 on Wednesday. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $69.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $33.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.14, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $49.26.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The company had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Centene

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.