Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lowered its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,761 shares of the company’s stock after selling 278 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,305,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 41.4% in the second quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Riverview Trust Co boosted its position in Centene by 154.6% during the 2nd quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CNC shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Monday, August 5th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Baird R W raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $98.00 to $97.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.58.

Centene Stock Performance

CNC stock opened at $75.61 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $40.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $63.45 and a 12-month high of $81.42.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The business had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’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.

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.