Westpac Banking Corp Acquires Shares of 12,512 Centene Corporation $CNC

Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 12,512 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $803,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Korea Investment CORP purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the second quarter valued at approximately $64,395,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,668,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth $94,667,000. Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 2nd quarter worth $1,159,000. Finally, Heartland Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Centene during the 2nd quarter worth $9,764,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Centene

In related news, General Counsel Christopher Koster sold 47,603 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.36, for a total transaction of $3,111,332.08. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 305,354 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,957,937.44. This represents a 13.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $64.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $64.96 and its 200 day moving average is $52.40. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $28.24 and a 1-year high of $69.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market cap of $32.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.22, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.08.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported $2.51 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.09 by $1.42. Centene had a negative net margin of 2.51% and a positive return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $53.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $47.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Centene Corporation will post 4.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $79.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Centene from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.05.

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.