Centene Corporation $CNC Stock: First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Lowers Stake

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. cut its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 186,142 shares of the company’s stock after selling 49,510 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Centene were worth $11,563,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Focus Financial Network Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the third quarter valued at $456,000. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,489,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $614,000. Signal Advisors Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $818,000. Finally, Krilogy Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 9.4% during the third quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 74,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,648,000 after buying an additional 6,435 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Centene

Here are the key news stories impacting Centene this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Centene will launch a nationwide performance-based Gold Card Program in November 2026. The program will initially cover more than 160,000 qualifying providers and streamline prior-authorization reviews for certain outpatient services while maintaining clinical and quality standards. Investors may view the initiative as a way to reduce administrative friction, improve provider relationships and support operating efficiency. Centene to Launch Nationwide Gold Card Program for Qualifying Providers
• Positive Sentiment: Additional bullish discussion highlighted Centene’s redemption of its remaining 2027 notes, expansion of primary-care capabilities and the Gold Card rollout. These developments reinforce a recovery narrative centered on lower debt, simpler administration and improving margins ahead of the company’s late-October earnings report. Centene Is Up After Gold Card, Debt Redemption and Primary Care Expansion News
• Positive Sentiment: PA Health & Wellness, a Centene subsidiary, was recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance as one of the top 17 Medicaid health plans in the United States for the second consecutive year. The recognition supports Centene’s quality credentials in its core Medicaid business, although the direct financial impact is limited. PA Health & Wellness Earns National Recognition Among Top Medicaid Health Plans
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Sarah London said artificial intelligence should improve access for Medicaid patients, including those in medical-care deserts, rather than merely reduce billing costs. The comments support Centene’s longer-term innovation strategy, but no specific financial targets or implementation details were announced. Centene CEO Sarah London Discusses Medicaid and AI
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary from Zacks favored Centene over Molina Healthcare, citing CNC’s diversified business, improving margins, lower valuation and stronger expected earnings prospects. However, the cited median analyst price target of $62 is below the stock’s recent trading level, potentially limiting near-term upside.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity over the past six months consisted of sales rather than purchases, including sales by executives Christopher Koster and Kenneth Burdick. Insider selling does not necessarily signal deteriorating fundamentals, but it is a modest sentiment headwind.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on CNC shares. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

Centene Stock Up 2.8%

CNC stock opened at $68.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $34.03 billion, a PE ratio of -6.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.13. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.63 and a 12 month high of $69.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.09 by $1.42. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.16) earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) is a healthcare enterprise that provides health insurance and related services, primarily through government-sponsored programs. Its offerings include Medicaid plans, Medicare products, health plans sold through the Affordable Care Act marketplace, and services for military families through government-sponsored healthcare programs.

The company also provides pharmacy, behavioral health, specialty healthcare, care management and administrative services through various subsidiaries and partner organizations.