Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 20,862 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,339,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. DV Equities LLC purchased a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Centene by 118.4% during the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 406 shares during the period. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Bayban bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the firm’s 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 directly owned 248,854 shares in the company, valued at $16,648,332.60. This trade represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Centene Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of CNC opened at $64.91 on Friday. Centene Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $28.24 and a fifty-two week high of $69.36. The firm has a market cap of $32.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.22, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $65.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $69.00 price objective on Centene and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $79.00 target price (up from $68.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Centene from $46.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

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.