Clearline Capital LP Cuts Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Clearline Capital LP cut its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 58.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 220,351 shares of the company’s stock after selling 306,352 shares during the quarter. Clearline Capital LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,067,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 56,978,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,344,676,000 after purchasing an additional 190,334 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,271,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $554,338,000 after acquiring an additional 697,277 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. boosted its stake in Centene by 184.0% in the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Centene by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 9,002,570 shares of the company’s stock valued at $370,456,000 after acquiring an additional 603,585 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of CNC stock opened at $60.52 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $53.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $44.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $29.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.61, a PEG ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 1.09.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.53 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Centene from $48.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.24.

Centene Company 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.