Paralel Advisors LLC Invests $4.53 Million in Centene Corporation $CNC

Paralel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 70,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,531,000. Centene comprises 0.2% of Paralel Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MidFirst Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 564.6% during the 2nd quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in Centene during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Centene by 118.4% in the 4th quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on CNC. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. UBS Group set a $79.00 price objective on Centene in a report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $70.05.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $64.24 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $64.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $52.31. 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 $31.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. The company had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 12.12% and a negative net margin of 2.51%.Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Centene

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 305,354 shares in the company, valued at $19,957,937.44. This represents a 13.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Centene

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.