Capital World Investors Reduces Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Capital World Investors lessened its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 22.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,504,247 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,061,954 shares during the period. Capital World Investors owned about 3.47% of Centene worth $1,060,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the 3rd quarter valued at about $844,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 21.8% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 42,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after purchasing an additional 7,549 shares in the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Centene by 32.4% in the third quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Centene by 3.7% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 621,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,799,000 after buying an additional 22,233 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Argus cut Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.69.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $60.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.77 and a 200 day moving average of $61.31.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last posted 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. The firm 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%. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.