O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 71.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 178,282 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $4,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,536,167,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in Centene by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 23,468,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,766,683,000 after acquiring an additional 111,654 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $230,412,000 after acquiring an additional 130,895 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Centene by 77.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 80.6% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $126,056,000 after buying an additional 928,465 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE CNC opened at $60.69 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $30.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. Centene Co. has a 1-year low of $55.03 and a 1-year high of $80.59.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group raised 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 research note on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.