Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 3,648 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 144,961 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,648 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Centene were worth $9,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth $1,325,441,000. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the first quarter worth $914,080,000. Harris Associates L P grew its stake in shares of Centene by 172.8% in the fourth quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 10,863,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $806,170,000 after purchasing an additional 6,881,450 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of Centene by 60.2% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 5,216,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $409,390,000 after purchasing an additional 1,959,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Centene by 375.1% in the fourth quarter. Canoe Financial LP now owns 1,943,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,263,000 after purchasing an additional 1,534,826 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on CNC shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $81.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Centene from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird started coverage on shares of Centene in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $83.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $83.00 to $69.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.93.

Centene Stock Up 0.4 %

CNC stock traded up $0.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.55. The stock had a trading volume of 2,123,166 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,459,605. Centene Co. has a one year low of $60.83 and a one year high of $81.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company’s 50 day moving average is $71.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $73.86. The company has a market capitalization of $41.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.50.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 26th. The company reported $2.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.44 by ($0.02). Centene had a return on equity of 14.45% and a net margin of 1.79%. The firm had revenue of $39.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.84 EPS for the current 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.