National Pension Service Buys 732,259 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

National Pension Service boosted its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 353.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 939,674 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 732,259 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Centene were worth $60,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.1% in the first quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,683 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Summitry LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 23,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Centene by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 253 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 52,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,165,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Centene by 3.1% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 8,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.6%

Centene stock opened at $66.43 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.63 and a twelve month high of $69.36. The stock has a market cap of $32.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.10. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $65.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Centene

In other 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Mizuho set a $63.00 target price on Centene and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, July 17th. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

About Centene

Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) is a managed-care company that provides health insurance and related healthcare services, primarily through government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicaid, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug plans, coverage for individuals and families through the health insurance marketplace, and health services for military families and veterans.

The company markets several healthcare brands, including Ambetter, which provides marketplace plans, and Wellcare, which offers Medicare products.