Centene Corporation $CNC Stock Position Lowered by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd reduced its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 27.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,813 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of CNC. DV Equities LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. IFC & Insurance Marketing Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in Centene by 118.4% in the fourth quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 749 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the period. Bayban bought a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, MV Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Centene from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $53.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Centene from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target (up from $55.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.61.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $66.29 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.90. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a PE ratio of -5.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.07.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. Centene had a negative net margin of 3.25% and a positive return on equity of 5.57%. The firm had revenue of $49.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.