Natixis Raises Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Natixis lifted its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 88.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 92,089 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,224 shares during the quarter. Natixis’ holdings in Centene were worth $4,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polianta Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,253,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new position in Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $4,033,000. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Centene by 83.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after purchasing an additional 19,181 shares in the last quarter. Focused Investors LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 19.9% during the 2nd quarter. Focused Investors LLC now owns 1,250,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,850,000 after purchasing an additional 207,600 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $292,045,000 after purchasing an additional 143,573 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on CNC. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $41.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target (up previously from $36.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Centene from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $38.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.06. The company has a market cap of $18.71 billion, a PE ratio of -3.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The firm had revenue of $49.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.50 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS 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.