Bank of America Corp DE Lowers Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Bank of America Corp DE cut its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 15.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,210,195 shares of the company's stock after selling 583,556 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.64% of Centene worth $194,474,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 21.7% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock worth $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Centene by 42.8% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock valued at $391,854,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Centene by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock worth $320,760,000 after buying an additional 443,121 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on CNC. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock 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 report on Monday, April 28th. Argus downgraded Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given 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 $79.77.

Centene Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $59.75. 2,304,288 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,823,842. 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 $29.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $80.59. The stock's fifty day moving average is $60.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.47.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current year.

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.