Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Has $2.67 Million Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. decreased its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 76.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,210 shares of the company's stock after selling 141,077 shares during the quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Centene were worth $2,672,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CNC. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 4,094 shares of the company's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its holdings in Centene by 75.3% during 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. Private Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of Centene by 23.7% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 956 shares of the company's stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Centene by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,591 shares of the company's stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Finally, Intellectus Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Intellectus Partners LLC now owns 7,224 shares of the company's stock valued at $438,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Centene Price Performance

Centene stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $59.90. 5,530,891 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,757,497. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.71. The company has a market cap of $29.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.10 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.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $43.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.26 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS 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.