Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by Seven Eight Capital LP

Seven Eight Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 696.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,491 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,037 shares during the quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $127,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $221,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,256,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 51,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,832,000 after buying an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on Centene in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $91.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $75.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.23 billion, a PE ratio of 14.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $63.45 and a 1 year high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.