Lyrical Asset Management LP Has $135.77 Million Position in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Lyrical Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,236,350 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,079 shares during the quarter. Centene accounts for 2.1% of Lyrical Asset Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Lyrical Asset Management LP owned about 0.45% of Centene worth $135,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in shares of Centene by 8.8% in the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Centene by 2.8% in the first quarter. Poinciana Advisors Group LLC now owns 7,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its stake in shares of Centene by 6.0% in the first quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 3,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Centene by 6.1% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Centene by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 5,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $316,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $45.00 to $31.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Centene from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $65.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $51.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $33.00 to $28.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.20.

Centene Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $27.09 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $13.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.40. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $38.56 and its 200-day moving average is $52.52. Centene Corporation has a 52-week low of $25.08 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 25th. The company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.23 by ($0.39). Centene had a net margin of 1.15% and a return on equity of 9.57%. The business had revenue of $48.74 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Sarah London bought 19,230 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $25.50 per share, for a total transaction of $490,365.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 845,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,554,512.50. This represents a 2.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Theodore R. Samuels II bought 9,000 shares of Centene stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.62 per share, with a total value of $248,580.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 32,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $883,840. This trade represents a 39.13% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.36% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Company 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.