Tidal Investments LLC Boosts Stock Position in Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC)

Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Centene Co. (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 47.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,932 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 19,815 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC's holdings in Centene were worth $3,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Centene during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,536,167,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 2,319,952 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Centene by 21.7% during the fourth 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 boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,802,265 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,578,917 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CNC shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Argus lowered Centene from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Centene from $76.00 to $72.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CNC traded down $1.65 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $56.43. 5,205,572 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,894,312. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Centene Co. has a 1 year low of $55.03 and a 1 year high of $80.59. The company's 50-day moving average is $60.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.31. The company has a market capitalization of $28.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.04, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.48.

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

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.