Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 22.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,567 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,361 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in Centene by 66.0% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the third quarter worth about $50,487,000. ARGA Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at approximately $21,485,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Centene by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 3,384,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,724,000 after buying an additional 199,016 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on CNC shares. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Centene from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Centene from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.00.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $44.82 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.04 billion, a PE ratio of -3.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $25.08 and a fifty-two week high of $66.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

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

About Centene

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.