Cresset Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Cresset Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 55.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 956,354 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,179,321 shares during the quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC owned 0.19% of Centene worth $57,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Centene in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Centene by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after purchasing an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $639,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Centene by 91.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,770,426 shares of the company's stock worth $228,414,000 after buying an additional 1,802,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Centene by 32.3% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,469,062 shares of the company's stock worth $391,854,000 after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Centene Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of CNC stock traded up $0.40 on Friday, hitting $62.82. The stock had a trading volume of 4,416,347 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,812,148. 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 one year low of $55.03 and a one year high of $80.59. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $60.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.50. The company has a market cap of $31.26 billion, a PE ratio of 10.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Argus lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective 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. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.