Marshall Wace LLP Sells 7,339 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 503,250 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,339 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.10% of Centene worth $30,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Centene by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CNC opened at $60.70 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.38. The company has a market cap of $30.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. 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 current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Argus downgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Guggenheim assumed coverage on Centene in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.69.

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.