Forsta AP Fonden Sells 92,300 Shares of Centene Corporation $CNC

Forsta AP Fonden trimmed its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 44.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 114,400 shares of the company’s stock after selling 92,300 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in Centene were worth $6,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $26,000. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene by 248.2% in the second quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 824 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Centene by 265.8% during the second quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Centene in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $76,000. Finally, Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH purchased a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CNC shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Centene from $28.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Centene from $30.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Centene from $68.00 to $28.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Centene from $25.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Centene from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.47.

Centene Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Centene stock opened at $36.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.03. The stock has a market cap of $17.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.49. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $25.08 and a 1-year high of $66.81.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.21) by $0.71. Centene had a positive return on equity of 7.82% and a negative net margin of 2.85%.The company had revenue of $49.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $47.50 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Profile

Centene Corporation operates as a healthcare enterprise that provides programs and services to under-insured and uninsured families, commercial organizations, and military families in the United States. The company operates through Medicaid, Medicare, Commercial, and Other segments. The Medicaid segment offers health plan coverage, including medicaid expansion, aged, blind, disabled, children’s health insurance program, foster care, medicare-medicaid plans, long-term services and support.