Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Bought by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 9.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 183,393 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,199 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 66.0% during the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 85,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after acquiring an additional 33,875 shares during the period. Packer & Co Ltd bought a new stake in Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,487,000. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at about $21,485,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in shares of Centene by 122.5% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 223,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,962,000 after purchasing an additional 122,870 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 6.2% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,384,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,724,000 after buying an additional 199,016 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $43.06 on Thursday. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.03. The business’s fifty day moving average is $42.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a positive return on equity of 4.25% and a negative net margin of 3.43%.The business had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.41 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $44.00 price target on Centene and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, February 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.88.

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.