Summit Global Investments Has $332,000 Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Summit Global Investments trimmed its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 54.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,486 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,659 shares during the period. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Centene were worth $332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Centene by 693.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P boosted its holdings in shares of Centene by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Harris Associates L P now owns 26,314,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,980,932,000 after buying an additional 1,420,825 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Centene by 77.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $176,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,425 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,736,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Centene by 4,390.8% in the fourth quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 687,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,668,000 after purchasing an additional 672,498 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

CNC stock opened at $59.38 on Tuesday. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 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. The stock has a market cap of $29.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.98.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on CNC. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $90.00 price target on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 target price (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Centene from $95.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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.