Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Invests $626,000 in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $626,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. increased its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its position in Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Private Trust Co. NA raised its position in Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Centene by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

Centene Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $60.36. 1,138,449 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,755,459. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.23 and a 200-day moving average of $60.46. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast 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.