NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 4,906 Shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

NewEdge Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 24.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,391 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,906 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Centene by 21.7% during the fourth 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. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Centene by 693.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,705,936 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,346,000 after purchasing an additional 1,490,935 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 77.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,786,770 shares of the company's stock worth $176,040,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214,425 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Centene by 80.6% during the fourth quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 2,080,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $126,056,000 after purchasing an additional 928,465 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of CNC stock traded down $0.25 on Thursday, reaching $59.60. 1,507,510 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,746,038. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $60.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.71. The stock has a market cap of $29.66 billion, a PE ratio of 9.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.53. Centene Co. has a one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its 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. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The company's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven equities 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, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.77.

Centene Company 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.