Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Lowers Stock Holdings in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its stake in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 28.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 360,745 shares of the company's stock after selling 146,002 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.07% of Centene worth $21,854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CNC. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter worth $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,555,456 shares of the company's stock worth $639,450,000 after buying an additional 1,884,358 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 7,742,698 shares of the company's stock worth $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 32.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Centene by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock worth $320,760,000 after buying an additional 443,121 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of Centene stock traded up $0.59 on Wednesday, hitting $59.56. 5,846,952 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,843,305. 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. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.47. The company has a market capitalization of $29.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CNC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays reduced their price target on Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.