Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Bought by Mizuho Securities USA LLC

Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 40.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 47,850 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,740 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $2,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Centene by 693.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. Harris Associates L P raised its stake in Centene by 5.7% during the third quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,425 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,736,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 4,390.8% during the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 687,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,668,000 after purchasing an additional 672,498 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on CNC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $75.00 target price (down from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Stephens dropped their price target on Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

NYSE:CNC opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.52, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $60.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $62.98.

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

About Centene

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.