Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ Acquires Shares of 5,371 Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ purchased a new position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,371 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $325,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Centene by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Osborne Partners Capital Management LLC now owns 221,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,398,000 after acquiring an additional 10,515 shares during the period. Washington Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Centene by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. now owns 19,130 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,272,000. Bonfire Financial acquired a new position in shares of Centene during the fourth quarter worth approximately $490,000. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 38.4% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 26,034 shares of the company's stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 7,229 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $56.36. 6,738,320 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,872,125. The company has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $60.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $60.19. 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 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share 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 company's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Centene Co. will post 6.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CNC. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus cut Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Centene currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $79.77.

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.