Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Holdings in Centene Corporation $CNC

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 26.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 209,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,773 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Centene were worth $7,466,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in CNC. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Centene in the third quarter worth approximately $326,000. Savvy Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at $285,000. GK Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 53.3% during the third quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,395 shares of the company’s stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its holdings in Centene by 909.0% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 421,168 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,027,000 after buying an additional 379,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the third quarter valued at $713,000. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (up previously from $33.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Centene from $38.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Argus raised shares of Centene to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.50.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $40.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $19.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.98, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $36.29. Centene Corporation has a twelve month low of $25.08 and a twelve month high of $66.03.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 6th. The company reported ($1.19) EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. Centene’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.9% on a year-over-year basis. Centene has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.000-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current 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.