Alpha Wealth Funds LLC Makes New $272,000 Investment in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Alpha Wealth Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $272,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at $1,536,167,000. Invesco Ltd. grew 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 buying an additional 1,884,358 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $469,053,000 after buying an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $391,854,000 after buying an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Centene by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,294,816 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,760,000 after acquiring an additional 443,121 shares during the period. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Centene Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Centene stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $56.36. 6,738,320 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,882,176. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $28.04 billion, a PE ratio of 9.03, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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%. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Co. will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on CNC. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Argus downgraded shares of Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Centene from $93.00 to $84.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Centene presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.