Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Purchased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,123,854 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,798 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Centene worth $69,814,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of CNC. Silicon Valley Capital Partners bought a new stake in Centene in the second quarter worth $25,000. North Point Portfolio Managers Corp OH purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the third quarter valued at $30,000. MidFirst Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 1.3%

Centene stock opened at $67.38 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $33.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $66.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.47. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $31.63 and a twelve month high of $72.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The company reported $0.58 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $50.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.12 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 12.15% and a net margin of 0.72%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Centene news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 56,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $16,648,332.60. The trade was a 18.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on CNC. Raymond James Financial set a $79.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 target price on Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Argus raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.80.

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.