Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 1,881,041 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 34.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,290,041 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,881,041 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.48% of Centene worth $260,078,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter valued at $236,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Centene by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $527,000 after acquiring an additional 4,315 shares during the period. AE Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Centene by 19.8% in the 2nd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $241,000 after acquiring an additional 734 shares during the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter valued at about $346,000. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in Centene by 7.6% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 122,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,624,000 after purchasing an additional 8,632 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $34.77 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $42.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.51. The company has a market cap of $17.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.55, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 1.10 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Corporation has a one year low of $25.08 and a one year high of $66.03.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $47.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 15th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $59.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.06.

Centene 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.