iA Global Asset Management Inc. Has $112,000 Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 95.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,334 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Centene were worth $112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,398,000 after buying an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 68.4% in the fourth quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 36,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,189,000 after buying an additional 14,671 shares during the period. Polianta Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 41.7% in the fourth quarter. Polianta Ltd now owns 22,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the period. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 27.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,602,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,082,000 after buying an additional 343,559 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after buying an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company’s stock.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC opened at $58.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.21 billion, a PE ratio of 9.44, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.27 and its 200-day moving average is $63.15. Centene Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.03 and a fifty-two week 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, beating 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 company had revenue of $40.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus lowered shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Stephens cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $75.00 to $73.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.92.

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.