Aquatic Capital Management LLC Acquires 6,155 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 17.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 41,855 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Aquatic Capital Management LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $2,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Centene by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,803,437 shares of the company's stock worth $230,412,000 after purchasing an additional 130,895 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Centene by 91.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock worth $228,414,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802,265 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew its holdings in Centene by 17.1% during the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 3,279,433 shares of the company's stock valued at $198,668,000 after purchasing an additional 480,082 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CNC traded up $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $60.10. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,390,493 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,767,718. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $29.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.20 and a 200 day moving average of $60.62.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on CNC. StockNews.com downgraded Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Barclays decreased 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

Centene 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.