Ameriprise Financial Inc. Purchases 1,578,917 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 32.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 1.28% of Centene worth $391,854,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its holdings in Centene by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in Centene by 75.3% during the 4th 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 grew its position in Centene by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Centene by 5.4% during the 4th 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 period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Performance

NYSE:CNC traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $62.82. 4,416,347 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,798,390. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $60.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.38. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. The business's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Centene has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

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.