Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 288.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 53,014 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,358 shares during the quarter. Centene comprises 1.0% of Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Polianta Ltd purchased a new stake in Centene in the second quarter worth about $1,253,000. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the second quarter worth about $4,033,000. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in Centene by 83.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 42,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,566,000 after buying an additional 19,181 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Centene by 3.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 4,810,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $292,045,000 after buying an additional 143,573 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Centene in the second quarter worth about $493,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $35.78 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.65. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $73.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.57 billion, a PE ratio of 8.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.47.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. Centene has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.750-1.750 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Centene from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Bank of America lowered Centene from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 target price (down from $73.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.33.

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.