Centiva Capital LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Centiva Capital LP cut its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 46.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,474 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,534 shares during the quarter. Centiva Capital LP's holdings in Centene were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Centene by 91.7% during the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 81,053 shares of the company's stock worth $4,910,000 after buying an additional 38,775 shares during the last quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC raised its position in Centene by 149.8% during the fourth quarter. Bridgefront Capital LLC now owns 10,459 shares of the company's stock worth $634,000 after acquiring an additional 6,272 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Centene by 55.6% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 45,103 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,732,000 after purchasing an additional 16,108 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP acquired a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $66,708,000. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Centene by 4,613.1% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 348,017 shares of the company's stock worth $21,083,000 after purchasing an additional 340,633 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CNC traded up $0.56 during trading on Thursday, reaching $60.03. 7,166,725 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,852,563. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $60.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.47. The firm has a market cap of $29.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. Centene Co. has a 12-month low of $55.03 and a 12-month high of $80.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.11.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 billion. Centene had a net margin of 2.03% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.26 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on CNC. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Argus cut shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note 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, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $79.77.

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.