Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stock Position in Centene Corporation $CNC

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,878,973 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 428,503 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.38% of Centene worth $77,320,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Centene in the second quarter worth $1,435,997,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Centene by 2.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,186,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,258,586,000 after buying an additional 514,600 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Centene by 76.6% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 14,654,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,885,000 after acquiring an additional 6,356,152 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,725,910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $636,482,000 after acquiring an additional 633,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. boosted its position in shares of Centene by 184.0% during the 3rd quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. now owns 9,046,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $322,761,000 after acquiring an additional 5,860,630 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $41.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 19th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.81.

Centene Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of CNC opened at $32.94 on Wednesday. Centene Corporation has a 1 year low of $25.08 and a 1 year high of $66.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.73. The firm has a market cap of $16.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.22) by $0.03. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a positive return on equity of 4.25%. The firm had revenue of $49.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 21.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company 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.