Easterly Investment Partners LLC Has $15.16 Million Holdings in Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Centene Corporation (NYSE:CNC - Free Report) by 51.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 249,696 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 84,899 shares during the period. Centene comprises approximately 1.3% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Easterly Investment Partners LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Centene worth $15,159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pinney & Scofield Inc. acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Studio Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Centene in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Centene by 203.1% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 579 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. 93.63% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Centene Price Performance

Shares of CNC traded down $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $27.95. The stock had a trading volume of 22,516,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,998,581. The company's fifty day moving average is $50.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.11. Centene Corporation has a 52 week low of $27.83 and a 52 week high of $80.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 4.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.46 and a beta of 0.44.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on CNC. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Centene from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $65.00 to $45.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Oppenheimer set a $51.00 price objective on shares of Centene and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Centene from $71.00 to $40.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $48.00 price objective (down from $75.00) on shares of Centene in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $58.63.

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.