60,700 Shares in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC) Purchased by Bayesian Capital Management LP

Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 60,700 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,677,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Centene during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in 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. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

Centene Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $63.01. 2,166,852 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,747,783. 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 twelve month low of $55.03 and a twelve month high of $80.59. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.48. The company has a market cap of $31.35 billion, a PE ratio of 10.10, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.26 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.