Legal & General Group Plc Has $173.67 Million Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,220,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 226,817 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Centene were worth $173,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 35.2% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 72,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after buying an additional 18,799 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,986 shares of the company’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 80.8% during the 4th quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 17,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $737,000 after buying an additional 8,005 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,540,662 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,398,000 after buying an additional 39,830 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $1,914,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $58.72 on Thursday. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $25.08 and a 52 week high of $60.76. The firm has a market cap of $29.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.47, a P/E/G ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $44.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.90 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 3.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Centene from $41.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Centene from $39.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Centene from $63.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $57.65.

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.