Norinchukin Bank The Raises Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Norinchukin Bank The increased its position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 9.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,577 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The’s holdings in Centene were worth $1,489,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Centene by 73.4% in the 4th quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CNC. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Centene from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.69.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC opened at $60.70 on Monday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $59.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.23. The firm has a market cap of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week high of $80.59.

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 company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.78 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. Centene’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.45 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.