Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 632,557 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 60.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,684,669 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 632,557 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $55,156,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. Baird Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the 1st quarter valued at about $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 80.0% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 4,315 shares during the last quarter. CW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 20.3% in the second quarter. CW Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $264,000 after purchasing an additional 820 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position 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 raised its stake 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 during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho set a $63.00 price target on Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Centene from $60.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $61.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.61.

Centene Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:CNC opened at $63.35 on Monday. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $69.36. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $63.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.90 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.

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.