Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC) is Vantage Investment Partners LLC's 9th Largest Position

Vantage Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 19.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 642,303 shares of the company's stock after selling 151,353 shares during the period. Centene makes up approximately 3.3% of Vantage Investment Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Vantage Investment Partners LLC owned 0.13% of Centene worth $38,994,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its position in shares of Centene by 75.3% during the fourth quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 412 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 177 shares during the period. Pinney & Scofield Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Centene in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.63% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CNC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Centene from $64.00 to $61.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Centene from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Centene in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $69.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "equal weight" rating and set a $65.00 target price (down from $84.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.71.

Centene Stock Performance

Shares of CNC stock opened at $54.48 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $53.99 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.74.

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

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