Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 183,113 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 183,113 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,375,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the second quarter worth about $2,660,422,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 10,757,914 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $285,713,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in Centene during the second quarter worth $257,279,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth $244,463,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Morgan Stanley set a $71.00 target price on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Argus upgraded Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial set a $79.00 target price on Centene in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Centene from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.80.

Centene Trading Up 12.7%

NYSE:CNC opened at $76.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $66.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $55.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $37.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.07. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $31.63 and a 12 month high of $77.05.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.48. Centene had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 0.72%. The business had revenue of $50.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 5.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total value of $3,779,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.