Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Shares Purchased by Cinctive Capital Management LP

Cinctive Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,964 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,544 shares during the period. Cinctive Capital Management LP’s holdings in Centene were worth $3,148,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Rialto Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the period. Finally, Riverview Trust Co increased its position in Centene by 172.7% during the fourth quarter. Riverview Trust Co now owns 758 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (down previously from $80.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Centene from a “hold” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Centene from $66.00 to $71.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. UBS Group upgraded Centene from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, December 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Centene from $91.00 to $93.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 13th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.92.

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock opened at $60.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The firm has a market cap of $30.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $59.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $62.44.

Centene (NYSE:CNC) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.31. Centene had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 2.03%. The firm had revenue of $40.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.78 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.45 earnings per share. Centene’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Centene Company 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.