Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Purchases New Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 7,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $427,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in Centene by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420,825 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Centene by 0.5% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,766,683,000 after buying an additional 111,654 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 3.5% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 5,768,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $434,255,000 after buying an additional 194,566 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Centene by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $230,412,000 after acquiring an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,203,049 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,126,000 after acquiring an additional 428,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $59.62 on Friday. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $60.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.41. The firm has a market cap of $29.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com lowered Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

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.