Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Newly Acquired by Howard Capital Management LLC

Howard Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 58,241 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,618,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Centene by 423.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,301,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $853,805,000 after acquiring an additional 10,757,914 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 12.4% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,517,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $354,173,000 after purchasing an additional 608,249 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Centene by 21.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,518,785 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,818,000 after buying an additional 802,756 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth about $285,713,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $70.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were 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 directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC traded down $1.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $69.27. The stock had a trading volume of 3,336,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,808,065. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The stock has a market cap of $34.22 billion, a PE ratio of -6.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.13. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $31.63 and a 1 year high of $71.21. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.67.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its 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. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%. The firm had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

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.