The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Makes New Investment in Centene Corporation $CNC

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 334,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,480,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CNC. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,660,422,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Centene by 117.0% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 31,798,738 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,308,518,000 after acquiring an additional 17,143,904 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $332,044,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the third quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $322,761,000 after purchasing an additional 5,860,630 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at $257,279,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $80.00 price target (up from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $58.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on Centene in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $65.23 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.16. The firm has a market cap of $32.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.24 and a 1-year high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.64 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.16) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.