Northern Trust Corp Boosts Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 443,121 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.05% of Centene worth $320,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Centene by 75.3% in the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Centene in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Centene by 73.4% in the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 631 shares of the company's stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 267 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. StockNews.com cut shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Centene currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.77.

Centene Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of CNC traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $60.10. 5,390,493 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,765,480. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company's 50 day moving average is $60.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.50. The company has a market capitalization of $29.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.63, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a 52 week low of $55.03 and a 52 week high of $80.59.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current 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.