AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Lowers Stock Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 50.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 705,551 shares of the company's stock after selling 708,888 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd owned approximately 0.14% of Centene worth $42,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new stake in Centene during the 4th quarter worth approximately $427,000. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $552,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in shares of Centene by 57.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 390,002 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,626,000 after buying an additional 142,195 shares during the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of Centene by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP now owns 8,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sector Gamma AS raised its position in shares of Centene by 78.9% during the 4th quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 170,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Centene from $90.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group decreased 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. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $58.63.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,516,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,016,047. The stock has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 4.17, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Centene Corporation has a 1-year low of $27.88 and a 1-year high of $80.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.00.

Centene (NYSE:CNC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 25th. The company reported $2.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.52 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $46.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 billion. Centene had a return on equity of 14.56% and a net margin of 2.04%. Centene's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Centene Corporation will post 6.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.