Centene Corporation $CNC Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 35.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 365,464 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 96,238 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.07% of Centene worth $11,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Centene from $50.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 4th. Mizuho set a $63.00 target price on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.61.

Centene Price Performance

CNC opened at $65.94 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $63.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.44. Centene Corporation has a 12-month low of $25.08 and a 12-month high of $69.36. The firm has a market cap of $32.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.02, a PEG ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The company reported $3.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $1.14. The company had revenue of $49.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.53 billion. Centene had a positive return on equity of 5.57% and a negative net margin of 3.25%.Centene’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Centene Corporation will post 3.44 earnings per share for the current 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.