Summit Global Investments Buys 32,794 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Summit Global Investments raised its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 403.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 40,923 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 32,794 shares during the quarter. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Centene were worth $2,542,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in Centene by 53.9% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 7,562 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 7,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al lifted its position in shares of Centene by 25.9% in the 3rd quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al now owns 814,388 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,590,000 after acquiring an additional 167,680 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Centene by 15.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parcion Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 4,108 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,855 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,810 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.90, for a total transaction of $3,779,850.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 248,854 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,648,332.60. This represents a 18.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Centene

Here are the key news stories impacting Centene this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to raise price targets. Wells Fargo lifted its target from $69 to $75 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating. JPMorgan also raised its target from $67 to $75, and UBS increased its target from $70 to $78. These revisions suggest analysts see additional value after Centene’s earnings update, even though the ratings remain cautious. Wells Fargo analyst update JPMorgan analyst update UBS analyst update
• Positive Sentiment: Strong quarterly results and higher guidance support the stock. Centene exceeded earnings and revenue expectations, and its quarterly revenue increased year over year. The company’s guidance increase reinforces expectations for improved profitability and prompted additional analyst optimism. Centene Q3 earnings and guidance Centene guidance increase
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst ratings remain restrained. Wells Fargo and UBS retain “equal weight” or “neutral” recommendations, indicating that the higher targets reflect moderate appreciation potential rather than a strong conviction that CNC is significantly undervalued. Centene analyst price target update
• Negative Sentiment: Membership pressure remains a key risk. Coverage has highlighted lingering membership challenges and uncertainty over whether Centene can maintain a stable health benefits ratio. These issues could offset the benefit of stronger earnings and guidance if they pressure margins or future revenue growth. Centene membership pressures Centene health benefits ratio analysis

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CNC. TD Cowen restated a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Centene from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Centene from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.60.

Centene Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE CNC opened at $68.42 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $33.87 billion, a PE ratio of 23.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.13. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $31.63 and a one year high of $72.50. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $55.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.48. Centene had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 0.72%. The firm had revenue of $50.65 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $47.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation is a diversified healthcare enterprise that provides government-sponsored and commercial health insurance programs and related healthcare services. The company’s offerings are primarily focused on Medicaid, Medicare, and health insurance marketplace plans, with an emphasis on serving individuals and families who may have limited access to traditional healthcare coverage.

Centene operates Medicaid health plans through state-based contracts and offers Medicare Advantage, Medicare prescription drug, and Medicare Supplement products through its Wellcare brand.