Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Purchases 118,634 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,077,234 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 118,634 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.20% of Centene worth $71,421,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Centene by 154.6% in the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of Centene stock opened at $75.63 on Friday. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $63.45 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.51.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.10 earnings per share. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on CNC. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 29th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Centene from $92.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.58.

Centene Company Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.