Legal & General Group Plc Buys 636,683 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 14.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,113,759 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 636,683 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.96% of Centene worth $339,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the first quarter worth $25,000. WR Wealth Planners LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC now owns 468 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the last quarter. Chris Bulman Inc acquired a new position in Centene during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Riverview Trust Co raised its stake in shares of Centene by 154.6% during the second quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 527 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $74.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $39.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.83, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Centene Co. has a 12 month low of $63.45 and a 12 month high of $81.42. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $73.39.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.44 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.83 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.10 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on CNC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $78.00 target price on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on Centene from $110.00 to $95.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $85.58.

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.