EP Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 9,675 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

EP Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 38.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,675 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $956,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Centene in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $146,557,000. Boston Partners raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 155.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,901,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,802,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373,280 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Centene by 1,788.1% in the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 2,245,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,033,000 after purchasing an additional 2,126,582 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Centene by 111.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,608,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,055,000 after purchasing an additional 1,902,277 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $79,370,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $28.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $14.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.44. Centene Corporation has a 12 month low of $25.08 and a 12 month high of $77.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $29.80 and a 200-day moving average of $48.83.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $48.74 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.42 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sarah London acquired 19,230 shares of Centene stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. The trade was a 2.33% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.62 per share, for a total transaction of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on CNC. Bank of America downgraded shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho reduced their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Centene from $48.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Centene from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $37.93.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.