Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 23,800 Centene Corporation $CNC

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 23,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $779,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the 1st quarter worth approximately $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 80.0% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 4,315 shares during the period. CW Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 20.3% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 44,945 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,440,000 after purchasing an additional 2,582 shares during the period. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its holdings in Centene by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 231,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,590,000 after buying an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE CNC traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.70. The company had a trading volume of 114,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,243,878. The stock has a market cap of $32.94 billion, a PE ratio of -5.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $59.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.18. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $69.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $47.00 price target (up from $38.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, May 4th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Centene from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Centene from $44.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.44.

Centene 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.