Sound Shore Management Inc. CT Sells 320,868 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT decreased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 853,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 320,868 shares during the quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT owned 0.16% of Centene worth $56,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC grew its stake in Centene by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying 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 about $33,000. Riverview Trust Co lifted its stake in Centene by 154.6% in the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new position in Centene during the second quarter worth about $36,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $83.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Centene from $82.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven 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, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.58.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $75.63 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $73.51. The firm has a market cap of $40.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $63.45 and a 52 week high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced 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 net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 14.45%. The company had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Centene 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.