Savant Capital LLC Grows Stake in Centene Corporation $CNC

Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 71.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,321 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,848 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $5,114,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Centene by 66.0% in the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 85,232 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,041,000 after acquiring an additional 33,875 shares in the last quarter. Packer & Co Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter worth about $50,487,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 122.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 223,157 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,962,000 after purchasing an additional 122,870 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Centene in the third quarter worth about $21,485,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in Centene by 6.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,384,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,724,000 after buying an additional 199,016 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Zacks Research upgraded Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $24.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 31st. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.81.

Centene Stock Down 2.6%

Centene stock opened at $39.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.08. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $66.03. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.25) by $0.06. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.85% and a positive return on equity of 7.82%. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $48.41 billion. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.